Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 13:54:11 -0500

From: Ron Butters RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Re: Ast for Ask



someone writes:



Isn't ast for ask fairly easy to understand just in articulatory terms?

When

you pronounce the s, you then have to move your tongue way back in your

mouth to do the velar k. But if (without really thinking about it) you kind

of naturally slip into making things a bit easier on yourself, tonguewise,

then from an "s" tongue-position in the mouth, the nearest voiceless stop

for an English speaker is t, not k.



Yes. This is a the phonologial process known as ASSIMILATION. It is why we

say MARBLE instead of MARMOL (B M under the influence of the surrounding

nonasal sounds--as well as under the influence of the initial M).