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).