1. Articulatory Processes

2. The Most Common Processes • Assimilation • Dissimilation • Deletion • Epenthesis • Metathesis • Vowel reduction

3. Assimilation: Two sounds becoming more alike • Regressive Assimilation • Assimilation in which a sound influences the preceding segment. • E.g. indefinite, impossible, incomplete • Progressive Assimilation • Assimilation in which a sound influences the following segment. • E.g. books, bags

4. Dissimilation:Two Sounds Becoming Less Alike • Fifths: [f  f  s]  [f  f t s] Three fricatives  fricative+stop+fricative

5. Deletion • A process that removes a segment from certain phonetic context. • In English, a schwa [] is often deleted when the next vowel in the word is stressed. suppose: [spz]  [spz]

6. Epenthesis • A process that inserts a segment into a particular environment. • For example: • (in careful speech) something is pronounced [smp] instead of [sm]

7. Metathesis • A process that reorders a sequence of segments • For example: • Brid (Old English)  Bird (Modern English)

8. Vowel Reduction • The articulation of a vowel moves to a more central position when the vowel is unstressed. • For example: • considerate vs. consideration