Dissimilation (phonology)

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In phonology, dissimilation is the dissimilarity of two or more similar sounds within a word .

Examples

  • The ch in the sequence chs (e.g. in six or in fox ) was originally pronounced as a fricative . This pronunciation has been preserved for the words “sixteen” and “sixty”, as well as in certain areas (e.g. in Switzerland, see Helvetism ). Since s is also a fricative, a dissimilation has taken place, so that ch is pronounced as / k /.
  • Latin me r i d ies ('noon') from * me d i d ie (locative of medius dies )
  • Spanish a lm a ('soul') from Latin a n i m a

See also

  • Assimilation (phonology) - in phonology, changes in speech sounds, which mostly arise through coarticulation (articulatory simplification).
  • Sound change - a type of language change that consists in the pronunciation of sounds changing over time.
  • Graßmann's Law (Linguistics) - a phonetic dissimilation rule proven for Indo-European linguistics in 1863.

source

  • Jörg Meibauer, Introduction to German Linguistics, 2nd edition (2007), p. 98.