JOINED-UP SPEECH

A s s i m i l a t i o n

As we know assimilation is a part of Joined-up speech, is phonological process by which the phonetics of a speech segment becomes more like that of another segment in a word. A common example of assimilation would be "don't be silly" where the /n/ and /t/ in "don't" are assimilated to /m/ and /p/ by the following /b/, where said naturally in many accents and discourse styles "dombe silly".

In assimilation, the phonological patterning of the language, discourse styles and accent are some of the factors that contribute to changes. If a sound changes with reference to a following segment, it is traditionally called "regressive assimilation", the changes with reference to a preceding segment are traditionally called "progressive". Many find these terms confusing, as they seem to mean the opposite of the intended meaning. Regressive assimilation is also known as right-to-left, leading or anticipatory assimilation. Progressive assimilation is also known as left-to-right or preservative, lagging or lag assimilation.

Direction of assimilation:

Regressive assimilation: this is leftward assimilation; the phone assimilates to a preceding phone.

Progressive assimilation: this is rightward assimilation; the phone assimilation to a following phone

The sound that changes is called the assimilated sound.

The sound that causes the change is called the conditioning sound

Progressive Assimilation

Conditioning Sound Assimilated Sound

Regressive Assimilation

Assimilated Sound Conditioning Sound

Let’s see some examples of assimilation in place of articulation to the following consonants:

1. / t / changes to / p / before / m / / b / or / p /
2. / d / changes to / b / before / m / / b / or / p /
3. / n / changes to / m / before / m / / b / or / p /
4. / t / changes to / k / before / k / or /g/
5. / d / changes to / g / before / k / or / g /
6. / n / changes to /ŋ/ before / k / or / g /
7. / s / changes to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ or / j /
8. / z / changes to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or / j /
9. /θ/ changes to / s / before / s /

/ t / changes to / p / before / m / / b / or / p /

best man	pocket money
cat burglar	post mortem
cigarette paper	pot plant
coconut butter	court martial

/ d / changes to / b / before / m / / b / or / p /

bad pain	ground plan
blood bank	hold back
good morning	grand master

/ n / changes to / m / before / m / / b / or / p /

action planning	iron man
American plan	open market
brown bear	open book

/ t / changes to / k / before / k / or /g/

credit card	short cut
cut glass	fat girl

/ d / changes to / g / before / k / or / g /

bad girl	hard cash
bird call	slide guitar
closed game	red carpet

/ n / changes to /ŋ/ before / k / or / g /

action group	open court
common good	roman calendar
common ground	roman catholic

/ s / changes to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ or / j / followed by a rounded vowel sound

bus shelter	nice yacht
dress shop	space shuttle

/ z / changes to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or / j / followed by a rounded vowel sound

cheese shop	where's yours?
rose show	these sheep

/θ/ changes to / s / before / s /

bath salts	earth science
bath seat	fifth set
birth certificate	fourth season
both sexes	fourth summer
Bibliography

http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/assimilation.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimilation_(linguistics)

How to Learn Any Accent

Although we are not required to speak with a certain accent, we might feel inclined towards the one we are most familiar with or the one that we enjoy. In the end, it is a matter of personal choice as long as we are understood by most English speakers.

Actors, singers, and TV / radio announcers are sometimes trained to lose their regional accents or to adopt a different one because they are portraying a period character, or to be understood easily by improving their diction. We, as future English teachers, will also need to be easily understood by students. Not to mention that they will look at us as models of pronunciation and diction.

Amy Walker is a prominent YouTuber that explains some of the basics of how to learn any accent. As she said, we have to become truly fascinated with people and the way they speak in order to learn accents. Even if you are not interested in learning a particular accent, I think her explanation can be useful to develop our diction and confidence with the language.





In the video below you can hear her imitation of various accents from different parts of the world.