UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS

NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL

HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

ASSIMILATION PART 2
ACTIVITY 1: What are the most common cases of assimilation in SSBE? Choose the correct one(s): Coalescent
assimilation - Progressive assimilation - Regressive assimilation

So far, we have discussed the most common cases of assimilation, namely regressive assimilation and coalescent
assimilation. However, there are some cases in which progressive assimilation is possible too. This happens as a
result of syllabicity. Once the alveolar nasal /n/ has become syllabic, it may become bilabial or velar when
preceded by a bilabial or a velar plosive in the same word and followed by a consonant or pause.

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Now check your answer to the previous question.

ACTIVITY 2: Check the chart below and choose the correct word to complete the blank space: MANNER - PLACE
- VOICING1

PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION OF __________

/n̩/ becomes bilabial or velar

Open / ˈəʊpən / / ˈəʊpn̩ / [ ˈəʊpm̩ ]

Bacon / ˈbeɪkən / / ˈbeɪkn̩ / [ ˈbeɪkŋ̩ ]

There are other cases of progressive assimilation, but we will not deal with them since dentalisation is more
common. We’ll explore that topic in due time.

Last but certainly not least, it’s important to mention that, many times, regressive assimilation of place can affect
entire sequences of alveolar plosives. If one of them is affected and surrounded by sounds of a similar kind, they
will all be affected. For instance, in the phrase <couldn’t be>, we could get the following changes:

/ ˈkʊdn̩t / → [ ˈkʊbm̩p bi ] or [ ˈkʊbm̩ bi ]

Notice that in the second option, elision has been chosen.

ACTIVITY 3: Spot the phrases with entire sequences being affected by assimilation and transcribe them. The first
one is provided as an example.

a. I couldn’t be there any longer. [ˈkʊbm̩(p) bi ]

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Key to activity 2: PLACE
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

b. You’ll find it in the front garden. _______________________________

c. It shouldn’t bother you. _______________________________
d. It’s a grand problem. _______________________________
e. Don’t mess with me. _______________________________2

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Key to Activity 3: b. front garden [ frʌŋk ɡɑːdn̩ ]; c. shouldn’t bother [ ʃʊbm(p) bɒðə ]; d. grand problem [ ɡræm(b) prɒbləm
]; e. don’t mess [ dəʊm(p) mes ]

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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

VOICE AGREEMENT
Another case of assimilation which is usually treated separately is connected to the rule of voice agreement. This
rule applies when we have a final morpheme (i.e. a suffix) added to a word to form (1) the conjugation of the third
person singular of the simple present, (2) regular verbs in the past, (3) regular plurals, (4) the genitive case and (5)
contractions. Let’s check grammar first.

NO VOICE AGREEMENT NEEDED VOICE AGREEMENT NEEDED

(1) I like pop music She likes pop music

/ laɪk / / laɪks /

(2) I look good He looked good

/ lʊk / / lʊkt /

(3) My cat is friendly My cats are friendly

/ kæt / / kæts /

(4) The hat of Harry Harry's hat.

/ hæri / / hæriz /

(5) That is great That's great.

/ ðæt ɪz / / ðæts /

As it can be observed, if the final sound of the root word (i.e. the original word) is voiceless, the added morpheme
must agree in voicing. In other words, it must also be voiceless. This is why / laɪk / turns into / laɪks /. However, if
the final sound of the root word is voiced, then so must be the added suffix, as in / hæri / becoming / hæriz /. The
options that are available are either /s/ or /z/ for 1, 3, 4 and 5; and either /t/ or /d/ for 2.

There are, of course and unfortunately, two exceptions to the rule. The first exception takes place when the final
sound of the root word is a sibilant consonant (i.e. /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʧ/ or /ʤ/) and it applies to 1, 3, 4 and 5
above. In these cases, we add / ɪz / as a final morpheme. For example, the word <kisses> would be transcribed as
/ˈkɪsɪz/. Notice that as a result the word has one more syllable. The second exception only concerns regular verbs
in the past. If the final sound in the root word is either /t/ or /d/, then we add /ɪd/. As in the previous case, we
would also have an extra syllable. For instance, <decide> / diˈsaɪd / becomes <decided> / diˈsaɪdɪd /.

ACTIVITY 1: Check the underlined words in the sentences below and decide if the rule of voice agreement can
be applied. If so, match it to one of the above cases (1 to 5). The first two are provided as examples.

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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

a. Nice house. The rule can’t be applied since there’s no suffix.

b. It’s amazing! The rule is applied since it’s a contraction (case 5).
c. He holds it with his feet. _________________________________________________
d. He holds it with his hands. _________________________________________________
e. Jane’s book is quite heavy. _________________________________________________
f. He stopped to think. _________________________________________________
g. Such a mess! _________________________________________________
h. Ben’s idea’s the best! _________________________________________________
i. Ben’s idea’s the best! _________________________________________________3

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c. The rule is applied since it’s the conjugation of the third person singular of the simple present (case 1); d. The rule is
applied since it’s a regular plural (case 3); e. The rule is applied since it’s a genitive case (case 4); f. The rule is applied since it’s
regular verbs in the past (case 2); g. The rule can’t be applied since there’s no suffix; h. The rule is applied since it’s a genitive
case (case 4); i. The rule is applied since it’s a contractions (case 5)
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