Definition & Bedeutung von "assimilation"

What is "assimilation"?

Assimilation is a phonological process in which a sound changes to become more similar to a neighboring sound in terms of its articulatory features. This can occur in terms of place, manner, or voicing. For example, in the phrase "input," the /n/ sound may be pronounced more like an /m/ sound, resulting in [ɪmpʊt] due to the following bilabial /p/. Assimilation is important in phonetics and linguistics because it reflects how sounds interact in spoken language, contributing to the natural flow and efficiency of speech while influencing pronunciation patterns across different languages.