Assimilation

Assimilation is a sound change process by which one sound causes another sound to become phonetically more similar to it in some way.

Term properties

The relational adjective is assimilatory.

Subtypes

Assimilatory changes can be classified according to the following dichotomies:

• partial assimilation vs. total assimilation
• progressive assimilation vs. regressive assimilation
• contact assimilation vs. distant assimilation

References

• Campbell, Lyle & Mauricio J. Mixco. 2007. A Glossary of Historical Linguistics. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
• Crowley, Terry. 1997. An introduction to historical linguistics 3rd ed. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
• Kiparsky, Paul. 2003. The phonological basis of sound change. In Handbook of historical linguistics, ed. by Brian D. Joseph and Richard D. Janda, 313–342. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• McMahon, April M.S. 1994. Understanding language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Other languages

German Assimilation (de)