Pronounce English Accurately

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Assimilation

When we speak fast, our speech organs, being controlled by muscles, are affected by inertia; they cannot always move from one position straight to another, especially if two adjacent sounds are made at places far apart in the mouth.

In cases like this assimilation can take place. The word 'assimilation' is derived from the word 'similar' and means that one sound becomes more similar to the other.

One type of assimilation we have already seen - in words like 'tissue', which can be pronounced carefully with no assimilation as /sj/ - /ˈtɪs.juː/, or more quickly, with assimilation of the physically difficult combination /sj/ to /ʃ/: /ˈtɪʃ.uː/.

This assimilation is optional and can affect all words containing /sj/ followed by a rounded vowel, like 'issue' and 'tissue'.

In words ending in '-sion', '-tion', etc., the unassimilated version no longer exists and only the version with /ʃ/ is possible: 'station /ˈsteɪ.ʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃ.ən/, fashion /ˈfæʃ.ən/, ration /ˈræʃ.ən/, complication /kɒm.plɪk. ˈeɪ.ʃən/'.

By the way, the word 'fissure' always has /ʃ/ - /ˈfɪʃ.ə/. It can either end with schwa, in which case it is homophonous with 'fisher' or it can end in /ʊə/ - /ˈfɪʃ.ʊə/ - but it can never have /sj/.

The same process can happen when /s/ ending one word is followed by /ʃ/ beginning the next word - the /s/ can easily be pronounced /ʃ/ as well: bus shelter /ˈbʌs.ʃeltə/ [ˈbʌʃ.ʃeltə]dress shop /ˈdres.ʃɒp/ [ˈdreʃ.ʃɒp]space ship /ˈspeɪs.ʃɪp/ [ˈspeɪʃ.ʃɪp]nice shoes /ˈnaɪs ˈʃuːz/ [ˈnaɪʃ ˈʃuːz]

In the same way, /z/ can be assimilated to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or /j/ followed by a rounded vowel sound - cheese shop /tʃːiz ʃɒp/ [tʃːiʒ ʃɒp]where's yours? /weəz jɔːz/ [weəʒ jɔːz]rose show /rəʊz ʃəʊ/ [rəʊʒ ʃəʊ]these sheep /ðiːz ʃiːp/ [ðiːʒ ʃiːp]

Another common type of assimilation is a shift in the place of articulation of the alveolar sounds /t, d/ and /n/ so that their place of articulation becomes the same as that of following consonant.

Thus we find assimilation from alveolar /t, d/ and /n/ to bilabial place of articulation before bilabial /m, b/ or /p/.

Voiceless alveolar /t/ changing to unreleased voiceless bilabial /p/ before bilabial /m, b/ or /p/

'Great Britain' /greɪt ˈbrɪt.ən/ is rarely pronounced with a properly enunciated /t/ t the end of 'great' - it's more likely to be assimilated to [p̚] [greɪp̚ ˈbrɪt.ən] . But it's not a properly enunciated /p/ sound either. It's certainly not 'Grape Britain'! The [p] sound is unreleased - the lips come together in anticipation of the following /b/ in 'Britain', but never release. So all we have is the SHAPE of [p], not a fully realised /p/.

Other examples of /t/ being assimilated to a following bilabial include: football [ˈfʊp̚. bɔːl]utmost [ˈʌp̚. məʊst]dust bowl /dʌst bəʊl/ [dʌsp̚ bəʊl]fruit machine /fruːt məˈʃiːn/ [fruːp̚ məˈʃiːn]hit man /ˈhɪt.mæn/ [ˈhɪp̚ .mæn]light bulb /ˈlaɪt.bʌlb/ [ˈlaɪp̚.bʌlb]

In all these cases assimilation is optional and depends on how carefully the speaker is speaking. If we are speaking slowly or with emphasis then assimilation will be less or there may be none at all. If we are speaking faster or more carelessly then there will be more assimilation.

Without assimilation: 'I have shown you the uTmost respect'With assimilation: 'With the [ˈʌp̚. məʊst] respect, I simply cannot agree '

In exactly the same way, voiced alveolar /d/ can optionally change to unreleased voiced bilabial [b̚] / before bilabial /m/ /b/ or /p/:

blood poisoning /blʌd ˈpɔɪ.zən.ɪŋ/ [blʌb̚ ˈpɔɪ.zən.ɪŋ]blood pressure /blʌd ˈpreʃ.ə/ [blʌb̚ ˈpreʃ.ə]broad bean /brɔːd biːn/ [brɔːb̚ biːn]custard powder /ˈkʌs.təd ˈpaʊ.də/ [ˈkʌs.təb̚ ˈpaʊ.də]gold mine /ˈgəʊld maɪn/ [ˈgəʊlb̚ maɪn]Old Bailey /əʊld ˈbeɪ.li/ [əʊlb̚ ˈbeɪ.li]

Alveolar nasal /n/ changes to bilabial nasal /m/ before bilabial /m/ /b/ or /p/: brown paper /braʊn ˈpeɪ.pə/ [braʊm ˈpeɪ.pə]chicken breast /ˈtʃɪk.ɪn brest/ [ˈtʃɪk.ɪm brest]con man /ˈkɒn mæn/ [ˈkɒm mæn]fan belt /ˈfæn belt/ [ˈfæm belt]queen bee /kwiːn biː/ [ kwiːm biː]question mark /ˈkwes.tʃən mɑːk/ [ˈkwes.tʃəm mɑːk]

And this can happen across words: in part /ɪn pɑːt/ [ɪm pɑːt]in person /ɪn ˈpɜː.sən/ [ɪm ˈpɜː.sən]

Assimilation from alveolar to velar place of articulation

Voiceless alveolar /t/ can change to voiceless unreleased velar [k̚] before velar /k/ or /g/: credit card /ˈkred.ɪt kɑːd/ [ˈkred.ɪk̚ kɑːd]cut glass /kʌt glɑːs/ [kʌk̚ glɑːs]first class /fɜːst klɑːs/ [fɜːsk̚ klɑːs]short cut /ʃɔːt kʌt/ [ʃɔːk̚ kʌt]smart card /smɑːt kɑːd/ [smɑːk̚ kɑːd]shotgun /ʃɒt gʌn/ [ʃɒk̚ gʌn]

Voiced alveolar /d/ can change to unreleased voiced velar [g̚ ] before velar /k/ or /g/: cold calling /kəʊld ˈkɔː.lɪŋ/ [kəʊlg̚ ˈkɔː.lɪŋ]had come /hæd kʌm/ [hæg̚ kʌm]had gone /hæd gɒn/ [hæg̚ gɒn]second class /ˈsek.ənd klɑːs/ [ˈsek.əŋg̚ klɑːs]bad guy /bæd gaɪ/ [bæg̚ gaɪ]bridegroom /ˈbraɪd gruːm/ [ˈbraɪg̚ gruːm]

Alveolar nasal /n/ can change to velar nasal /[ŋ] before velar /k/ or /g/: common ground /ˈkɒm.ən graʊnd/ [ˈkɒm.əŋ graʊnd]golden globe /ˈgəʊld.ən gləʊb/ [ˈgəʊld.əŋ gləʊb]humankind /ˈhjuː.mən kaɪnd/ [ˈhjuː.məŋ kaɪnd]open court /ˈəʊ.pən kɔːt/ [ˈəʊ.pəŋ kɔːt]Roman Catholic /ˈrəʊ.mən ˈkæθ.lɪk/ [ˈrəʊ.məŋ ˈkæθ.lɪk]town clerk /taʊn klɑːk/ [taʊŋ klɑːk]

This is a common source of variant pronunciation in all words which have 'in' or 'un' followed by letter 'c' pronounced /k/, such as 'include': include - /ɪn ˈkluːd/ or /ɪŋ ˈkluːd/inclined - /ɪn ˈklaɪnd/ or /ɪŋˈklaɪnd/incompetence - /ɪn ˈkɒmp.ə.təns/ or /ɪŋ ˈkɒmp.ə.təns/uncompromising /ʌnˈkɒm.prəm.aɪ.zɪŋ/ /ʌŋˈkɒm.prəm.aɪ.zɪŋ/unconvincing /ʌn.kənˈvɪn.sɪŋ/ /ʌŋ.kənˈvɪn.sɪŋ/unconventional /ʌn.kənˈven.ʃən.əl/ /ʌŋ.kənˈven.ʃən.əl /

Assimilation from alveolar to labiodental place of articulationAlveolar nasal /n/ can change to to labiodental nasal [ɱ] when followed by labiodental /f/:

information /ɪn.fə.ˈmeɪ.ʃən/ [ɪɱ.fə.ˈmeɪ.ʃən]infrequent /ɪnˈfriː.kwənt/ [ɪɱˈfriː.kwənt]unfortunate /ʌnˈfɔː.tʃən.ət/ [ʌɱˈfɔː.tʃən.ət]unfit /ʌnˈfɪt/ [ʌɱˈfɪt]

in fact /ɪn fækt/ [ɪɱ fækt]in front /ɪn frʌnt/ [ɪɱ frʌnt]

on fire /ɒn faɪ.ə/ [ɒɱ faɪ.ə]in first place /ɪn fɜːst pleɪs/ [ɪɱ fɜːst pleɪs]

Assimilation from bilabial to labiodental place of articulationBilabial nasal /m/ can also change to labiodental nasal [ɱ] when followed by /f/

from Folkestone /frəm ˈfəʊk.stən/ [frəɱ ˈfəʊk.stən]from France /frəm frɑːns/ [frəɱ frɑːns]

Assimilation is something that should happen naturally, as a result of the inertia of the speech organs. It isn't something that should be deliberately done, and in more careful speech it doesn't happen as much as in fast speech.