Chapter 6: Segmental change: an outline of some of the most common

phonological processes
6.1. Sounds in connected speech. Coarticulation
6.2. Feature Changes. Assimilation. Different types of assimilation
6.3. Voicing and devoicing
6.4. Nasalization
6.5. Palatalization
6.6. Lenitions and fortitions
6.7. Delitions and insertions
6.8. Metathesis

6.4. Nasalization

Assimilation can affect the nature of the release, nasalization frequently

modifying the pronunciation of English vowels. This happens when the vowel is
followed by a nasal consonant; e.g. bin, lean, man, soon. We should remember, however,
that all English vowel phonemes are oral and that nasality is only a contextual, allophonic
feature in English vowels (remember, that in French, for insance, nasal vowels are
phonemes in their own right as minimal pairs like pâte /pat / – pente /pãt/, trait /trε/ –
train /tr¥/, robe /rob/ – rhombe /rõb/– contrasted on the basis of nasality, clearly prove).

Assimilation can affect the place of articulation as well. Nasal sounds often
assimilate to the place of articulation of the following plosive. The case of the Latin prefix
in is illustrative. When followed by a root beginning with a liquid – /l/ or /r/ – it was
assimilated by the respective liquid. Latin words like illegitimus, illiteratus, illicitus or
irrationalis, irregularis and irreligiosus exemplify the process. The nasal /m/ in the root
also assimilated the consonant of the prefix: e.g. immaterialis, immaturus, immediatus,
immemorialis. Notice that the process led to the creation of geminate (double) consonants
in the Latin words. The geminate consonant was preserved in modern Romance languages
such as French in corresponding words like illégitime /ille¥itim/, illettré, illicite; irrationnel
/irrasjonεl/, irrégulier irreligieux; immatériel /immaterjεl/, immature, immédiat,
immémoriel. However, in English and Romanian the consonant didn’t survive as a
geminate one, the current English spelling with a double consonant suggesting the origin of
the word rather than its actual pronunciation. E.g. in English: illegitimate /wled¥wtwmwt/,
illiterate, illicit; irrational /wræ•cncl/, irregular, irrelegious; immaterial/ ımctwcrwcl/,
immature, immediate, immemorial. Romanian follows the same pattern in this respect:
ilegitim, ilicit, imaterial, imatur, imediat, imemorial, iraţional, iregularitate. Here follows
the illustration of the process in Latin:

[ın ] → [ıl] ⁄ #  [+lateral]

illegitimus, illiteratus, illicitus
 [ın] → [ ır] ⁄ #  [+consonantal]
[+approximant]
[-lateral]
irrationalis, irregularis, irreligiosus
[ın] → [ım] ⁄ #  [+consonantal]
[+nasal]
[-coronal]
[+anterior]
immaterialis, immaturus, immediatus, immemorialis

When followed by a bilabial obstruent, /n/ in the prefix assimilates to /m/ in all
the languages mentioned above. A similar process takes place when the sound in the
prefix is followed by a velar obstruent in the base: /n/ changes into /õ/. Here are some
examples from English and Romanian:
English Romanian

[ın ] → [ım ] ⁄ #  [+consonantal]

[-vocalic]
[+instantaneous release]
[-coronal]
[+anterior]
impossible, imbed imposibil, imbatabil

[4n ] → [4õ] ⁄ #  [+consonantal]

[-sonorant]
[-anterior]
[-coronal]
incoherent, inglorious incapabil, ingratitudine

The relations above formalize the phonological transfor-mations undergone by the

prefix in when followed by different types of consonants. The symbol # marks word
boundaries, in other words, the beginning and the end of a word. In our particular cases, it
shows that the consonant assimilating the nasal in the prefix is word-initial. Word
boundary is an important concept introduced by Chomsky and Halle’s Sound Pattern of
English that the scope of this book doesn’t allow me to discuss in detail.
Notice, however, the different behaviour of another negative prefix in English, un,
in similar contexts. Assimilation doesn’t work in any of these cases across the boundary
and the nasal in the prefix remains unchanged.

un + /p/: unpredictable
un + /b/: unbelievable

un + /m/: unmentionable

un + /l/: unlawful

un + /r/: unrepresentative

un + /k/: unclear (alveolar, not velar nasal]

un + /g/: ungovernable (alveolar, not velar nasal)