An Introduction to French Pronunciation

122 Consonantal Assimilation
18
18.1 Introduction
Consonantal Assimilation
18.1.1 The point has already been made (1.2.1) that, when
we speak, we do not do so in discrete units, i.e. a word such
as French /kap/ (written cap) does not consist of three unrelated
sounds corresponding to the three characters of its
printed equivalent. When we speak, the speech organs are not
static but, apart from brief intervals of silence, are constantly
moving from the position required for one sound to that
required for a later sound in the same or a following word.
When we are in the process of uttering one sound, the way in
which it is pronounced is very likely to be affected by the fact
that, at the moment we are uttering it, we are also preparing
to utter a later sound. Furthermore, it can also happen –
though less frequently – that the precise way in which a given
sound is pronounced is influenced by a preceding sound.
18.1.2 If we assume that a given word has three phonemes:
1 – 2 – 3
and that the pronunciation of ‘2’ is affected by that of ‘1’
and/or of ‘3’, i.e. that, in some respect or other, the pronunciation
of ‘2’ is more like that of ‘1’ and/or ‘3’ than it would
otherwise be, we can say that phoneme ‘2’ is, to that extent,
assimilated to ‘1’ and/or ‘3’.