Articulatory Processes

Coarticulation

Situations when more than one articulator is active (aka overlap). Ex: the [pl] in <please>: the tongue will start to move toward the alveolar ridge BEFORE the lips separate

Dissimilation

The opposite of assimilation, results in two sounds becoming less alike in articulatory or acoustic terms--it's a much rarer process. Ex: Many speakers dissimilate the final [fɵs] sequence to [fts], apparently to break up the sequence of three fricatives with a stop.

Vowel Reduction

A process that converts a whole vowel, typically unstressed, to the short, lax schwa Ex: Canadian [kʰænədə] versus Canadian [kʰəneʲdiən]

Epenthesis

A process that inserts a syllabic or a nonsyllabic segment within an existing string of segments Ex: In careful speech the words <warmth> and <something> are pronounced [wɔɹmɵ] and [sʌ̃mɵɪ̃ŋ] but in casual speech it is common for speakers to insert a [p] between the m and the th and pronounce the words [wɔɹmpɵ] and [sʌ̃mpɵɪ̃ŋ]

Deletion

A process that removes a segment from certain phonetic contexts Ex: the schwa [ə] is often deleted when the next vowel in the word is stressed: <parade> = [pʰəɹəjd] --> [pɹəjd]

Metathesis

A process that reorders a sequence of segments which often results in a sequence of phones that's easier to articulate Ex: Common in children's speech spaghetti as pesghetti [pəskɛɾi] --> [spə] to [pəs]

Assimilation

Always results from a sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms of one or more of its phonetic characteristics Ex: Nasalization, voicing assimilation, place assimilation (IMpossible), flapping