Assimilation

ESTABLISHED PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION OF VOICE

• Due to economy of effort all sounds are affected by their environment to some extent. This economy of effort may occur at the vocal bands or result from the accomodation between two articulations. This phonological process is known as ASSIMILATION.

• Most nouns add an orthographic s/es to make their plural form: book-books, dog-dogs, church-churches. However, the pronunciation of the plural morpheme varies according to the noun to which it is added.

• The general rule is that the plural morpheme must agree in voicing with the last sound of the noun.   book/bʊk/   books/bʊks   dog/dɒg   dogs/dɒgz

• Assimilation is a phonological process due to economy of effort “by which sounds are influenced by neighbouring sounds and come to share some or all of their phonetic characteristics.” ORTIZ LIRA, H. y Diana FINCH (1982).

• In the case of the realisation of the plural among others, the process is also established, which means it is obligatory: it has become so usual in our speech that its omission would amount to mispronunciation.

• It is progressive because one sound carries its influence forward to the sound that follows.

• It is assimilation of voice or voice assimilation because the economy of effort is at the vocal cords.

ASSIMILATION OF VOICE (INVOLVING THE STATE OF THE GLOTTIS)

ESTABLISHED PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION OF VOICE

1. Realisations of the plural morpheme in nouns.
2. Realisations of the third person singular morpheme.
3. Realisations of the genitive morpheme.
4. Realisations of the simple past and past participle morpheme.
5. Realisations of the weakest forms of “is” and “has”.

Established progresive assimilation of voice

Where does this process take place?

1. In the realisation of the plural morpheme

The plural morpheme is realised as a voiceless /s/ because the previous sound is voiceless, too, or because the noun ends in a voiceless non-sibilant sound.

The plural morpheme is realised as a voiced /z/ because the previous sound is voiced, too, or because the noun ends in a voiced non-sibilant sound.

The plural morpheme is realised as an extra syllable /ɪz/ or /əz/ when the noun ends in a sibilant sound. /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ are sibilant sounds.

Remember that NOT ALL PLURAL MORPHEMES ARE REALISED BY THIS (productive) PROCESS OF ASSIMILATION

2. In the realisation of the third person singular morpheme:

The 3rd person singular morpheme is realised as:

/s/ when the verbs ends in voiceless non-sibilant sound:   works /wɜ:ks/   stops /stɒps/   eats /i:ts/   laughs /lɑ:fs/

/z/ when the verbs ends in a voiced non-sibilant sound:   cleans/kli:nz/   loves/lʌvz/   learns/lɜ:nz/   peels/pi:lz/   teeths/ti:ðz/   screams/skri:mz/

An extra syllable /ɪz/ /əz/ when the verb ends is a sibilant sound: /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ /, /ʧ/, /ʤ/:

passes /pɑ:sɪz/   dances /dɑ:nsɪz/

oozes /u:zɪz/   buzzes /bʌzɪz/

washes /wɒʃɪz/   pushes /puʃɪz/

watches /wɒtʃɪz/   dodges /dɒdʒɪz/

3. In the realisation of the possessive case morpheme / Saxon genitive / genitive inflection

The genitive morpheme is realized as:

/s/ when the previous sound is a voiceless non-sibilant sound.

/z/ when the previous sound is a voiced non-sibilant sound.

/ɪz/ /əz/ when the previous sound is a sibilant.

NB: When the original word ends with a sibilant, the genitive morpheme is realised as /ɪz/ /əz/

4. In the realisation of the weakest forms of is and has

Pat’s here   /pæts hɪə/

John’s here    /dʒɒnz hɪə/

(Alice is here)   /ælɪs ɪz hɪə/

5. In the realisation of the past / preterite and past participle

The preterite morpheme is realised as:

• a voiceless sound /t/ when the verbs ends in a voiceless sound, other than /t/.
• a voiced sound /d/ when the verb ends in a voiced sound, other than /d/.
• an extra syllable /ɪd/ /əd/ when the verb ends in /t/ or /d/

Not all past morphemes and plural morphemes are realized by means of assimilation. Some are realized by means of the (non-productive) phonological processes of:

• Vowel alternation
• Consonant alternation
• Both vowel and consonant alternation
• Addition of consonants