Assimilation

READ THE PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

AND REWRITE IT INTO LETTERS

HOPEFULLY YOU GOT:

Ladies and gentlemen! In a few minutes we
shall be arriving at Glasgow. Please fasten your
seat-belts and extinguish your cigarettes.
Please stay in your seats until the aircraft
has come to a complete standstill. Before leaving
the aircraft, make sure you have your
hand-baggage with you. We hope youve
enjoyed the flight.

Assimilation
Assimilation in RP occurs at word
boundaries (or in a word). It occurs in
the case of casual (unofficial) and
rapid speech. The three major types of
assimilation are:
1) Regressive assimilation
2) Progressive assimilation
3) Coalecscence
Gimson, p 285-286; Kelly, p.109-110

1. Regressive assimilation - which is

instability of previous/ final alveolars
assimilate to the place of
the following bilabials or velars
and assimilate to the place of the
following palato-alveolars /. They
all keep their original voicing.
/t/ > /p/ before /p,m,b/, e.g. that boy
/t/ > /k/ before /k,g/, that cup
/d/ > /b/ before /p,b,m/, e.g. good boy
/d/ > /g/ before /k,g,/, e.g. bad kid

 before /p,b,m/,
e.g. run back
before /k,g/,
e.g. ten cups, ten girls
before
e.g. this shop
before
e.g. those jokes

2. Progressive assimilation
Progressive assimilation is the instability
of the following alveolar sound which
assimilates to the place of articulation
of the following bilabial sound. E.g.
happen ,[]

3. Coalescence of which
has
led to earlier (e.g. "nature,
grandeur, mission, vision") also occurs
across word boundaries:
/t/ + /j/ in "what do you want"
/d/ + /j/ "would you"
/s/ + /j/ "in case you need it"
/z/ + /j/ "has your letter come"

Assimilation Practice
Identify the type of assimiltion in the following
examples:
Can you see that boy over there?

Where has that cat been all night?

Hes a rather fat boy.

Can you see that girl over there?

Ive been going out too much lately.

You went to France last year, didnt you?

//

I really love this shiny one over there.

Hes bringing his own car.

Shes got an apartment in Manhattan.

It was a good concert.

Thereare ten men in the class, and two women.

/

We found this lovely little cheese shop in Paris.

/

Would you like a cup of tea?