A Phonological Study of English and Arabic Assimilation :

A Contrastive Study

Zaynab A.Ali

Abstract
Assimilation is defined ,by many phoneticians like Schane ,Roach ,and many others, as a phonological
process when there is a change of one sound into another because of neighboring sounds.This study
investigates the phoneme assimilation as a phonological process in English and Arabic and it is concerned
specifically with the differences and similarities in both languages. Actually ,this study reflects the
different terms which are used in Arabic to refer to this phenomenon and in this way it shows whether
the term 'assimilation ' can have the same meaning of 'idgham' in Arabic or not . Besides, in Arabic , this
phenomenon is discussed from the point of view the modern and classical Arab linguists especially
Sibawayh's indication to this natural process in classical Arabic and different views of the tajweed
scholars and Qura'an reciters are involved in the discussion where detailed examples are taken mostly
from the Qura'an . However ,it is found that kinds of assimilation in Arabic are more varied than in
English and the researcher tries to state the major and minor ones briefly. It is hoped that this study can
contribute to a better understanding of this phenomenon in both languages .

‫دساعة ٍقاسّة‬:‫دساعة صىجية ىيالدغاً تاىيغة االّنييضية واىعشتية‬

٢ِ‫ ػ‬١‫د‬ٞ‫٘ت ػج‬٣‫ص‬

‫أُِخـ‬

‫ أخش‬٠ُ‫ادذ إ‬ٝ ‫د‬ٞ‫ش ٖٓ ف‬٤٤‫٘بى رـ‬ٛ ٌٕٞ٣ ‫خ ػ٘ذٓب‬٤‫ر‬ٞ‫خ ف‬٤ِٔ‫ ػ‬ٚٗ‫ٕ اإلدؿبّ ثأ‬ٝ‫آخش‬ٝ Shane,Roachَ‫د ٓض‬ٞ‫ذ ٖٓ ػِٔبء اُق‬٣‫ػشّف اُؼذ‬
‫زْ اُذساعخ ثؾٌَ خبؿ‬ٜ‫ر‬ٝ ‫خ‬٤‫اُؼشث‬ٝ ‫خ‬٣‫ض‬٤ٌِٗ‫خ ثبُِـخ اال‬٤‫ر‬ٞ‫خ ف‬٤ِٔ‫ ػ‬ٚٗ‫ ا‬٠ِ‫ْ ػ‬٤ٗٞ‫ اُذساعخ إدؿبّ اُل‬ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ‫ رجذش‬.‫سح‬ٝ‫اد أُجب‬ٞ‫ثغجت األف‬
ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ٠ُ‫خ ُِالؽبسح إ‬٤‫ اُِـخ اُؼشث‬٢‫ اُذساعخ أُقغِذبد أُخزِلخ أُغزخذٓخ ك‬ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ‫ رؼٌظ‬, ‫اهغ‬ُٞ‫ ا‬٢‫ك‬. ٖ٤‫ ًِزب اُِـز‬٢‫ ك‬ٚ‫اُؾج‬ٝ ‫ االخزالف‬ٚ‫ج‬ٝ‫ثأ‬
٢‫شح ك‬ٛ‫ اُظب‬ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ‫ُهؾذ‬ٞٗ, ‫ رُي‬٠ُ‫إضبكخ إ‬.‫خ أّ ال‬٤‫ اإلدؿبّ ثبُِـخ اُؼشث‬٠٘‫ ٗلظ ٓؼ‬ُٚ ّ‫ٔب إرا ًبٕ ٓقغِخ اإلدؿب‬٤‫ٖ ك‬٤‫وخ رج‬٣‫ اُغش‬ٙ‫ز‬ٜ‫ث‬ٝ ‫شح‬ٛ‫اُظب‬
‫ٔخ‬٣‫خ اُوذ‬٤‫ اُِـخ اُؼشث‬٢‫خ ك‬٤‫ؼ‬٤‫خ اُغج‬٤ِٔ‫ اُؼ‬ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ٠ُ‫ إ‬ٚ٣ٞ‫ج‬٤‫خبفخ أؽبسح ع‬ٝ ٠ٓ‫اُوذا‬ٝ ٖ٤‫خ أُذذص‬٤‫خ ٗظش ػِٔبء اُِـخ اُؼشث‬ٜ‫ج‬ٝ ٖٓ ‫خ‬٤‫اُِـخ اُؼشث‬
‫خ‬٣‫ أ‬٠ِ‫ػ‬. ٕ‫ اُـبُت ٖٓ اُوشا‬٢‫خ أُخزد ك‬٤ِ٤‫ أٓضِخ رلق‬٠ِ‫د ػ‬ٞ‫ ادز‬٢‫اُز‬ٝ ٕ‫هشاء اُوشا‬ٝ ‫ذ‬٣ٞ‫بد اُ٘ظش أُخزِلخ ٖٓ ػِٔبء اُزج‬ٜ‫ج‬ٝ ‫رضٔ٘ذ‬ٝ
‫جبص‬٣‫خ ثئ‬٣ٞٗ‫اُضب‬ٝ ‫خ‬٤‫غ‬٤‫اع اُشئ‬ٞٗ‫ُذ اُجبدضخ إٔ رزًش األ‬ٝ‫دب‬ٝ ‫خ‬٣‫ض‬٤ٌِٗ‫ػب ٖٓ اُِـخ اال‬ٞ٘‫خ أًضش ر‬٤‫ اُِـخ اُؼشث‬٢‫اع اإلدؿبّ ك‬ٞٗ‫جذ ثبٕ أ‬ٝ , ٍ‫دب‬
.ٖ٤‫ ًِزب اُِـز‬٢‫شح ك‬ٛ‫زا اُظب‬ُٜ َ‫ْ أكض‬ٜ‫ ك‬٠ُ‫ اُذساعخ إ‬ٙ‫ز‬ٛ ْٜ‫ٖٓ أُؤَٓ إٔ رغ‬ٝ .

1. Introduction

It is a fact that the realization of any speech sound differs according to the context in which it is
found and attention should be focused on the influences contiguous speech sounds exert upon each
other. Assimilation is one of the commonest types of sound change in which two sounds occur close
together in speech become more alike . This process needs the effort of all the movements of the speech
organs to make the sounds more similar and reduce the amount of movement and effort required
(Trask,1996:53;Crystal,2003:138)

1.1 Assimilation in English

Assimilation varies in extent according to speaking rate and style in which it is commonly to be
found in rapid , casual speech but it is less found in slow, careful speech. Broadly speaking ,in any
assimilatory processes any segment takes on features from a neighboring segment and the consonant
may pick up features from a vowel ,a vowel may take on features of a consonant , and one consonant may

148
influence another ,or one vowel may have an effect on another (Schane,1973:49). Roach (2000:53)
defines assimilation as "a process in which the phoneme can be realized differently because of being near
some other phoneme belonging to a neighboring word".

Moreover, Lass(1984:171) indicates that the standard assimilation taxonomy includes direction and
the assimilating influence may work either to the right or the left. Hence, the direction of the assimilating
process can be either progressive or regressive .The progressive assimilation which is also called
perseverative assimilation moves from left to right or forward ,i.e, sound affects the following sound as
in the word 'dogs' .Here, the voiceless /s/ is changed to voiced /z/ due to the influence of the preceding
sound /g/ which is a voiced one.The second direction of the assimilation process is called regressive and it
is called also anticipatory assimilation which moves from right to left or backward , i.e , the sound affects
the preceding sound like the bilabial /m/ is realized as labiodental nasal / ɱ / in the word like 'comfort'
under the influence of the following labiodental fricative /f/ (Gimson,1970:290 ; Crystal ,2003 :247) .
Progressive and regressive assimilation can be operated in both directions at the same time and then it is
called the mutual or reciprocal assimilation. Sometimes, it is called double assimilation for example in the
phrase 'don't you' /dəunt ju/ is pronounced as /dəunʧu/ when the plosive /t/ and the semi-vowel /j/ are
fused to form the affricate / ʧ / (Trask,1996:55; Deshpande et al. , 2007: 43 ; Malmberg , 1963 : 61).

Broadly speaking , Jones (1972:217) mentions two chief kinds of assimilation : historical and
contextual assimilation .

A) Historical assimilation refers to the assimilation which has taken place in the course of
development of a language , and by which a word which was once pronounced in a certain way
came to be pronounced subsequently in another way like the change of /m/ to /n/ which has
taken place in the word 'ant' / ænt/ . In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries this word was
written 'amete' and 'amte' and it is pronounced / æmətə/ and later /æmtə/ and /æmt/ .Thus, the
spelling with /n/ instead of /m/ first appeared in the fifteenth century which clearly indicating
the change to the modern pronunciation /ænt/.

B) Contextual Assimilation :refers to assimilation which is occasioned when words are juxtaposed in
a sentence ,or in the formation of compounds and by which a word comes to have a
pronunciation different from that which it has when said by itself ,e.g, the change of /s/ to / ∫ /
in 'horse shoe' to become /ho:∫ ∫u:/ (Ibid.).

1.1.1 Phonemic Variations

One can say , in describing an utterance in terms of a sequence of phonemes that

adjacent sounds in words , or at word boundaries can influence each other and any valid description
should take into consideration their tendencies and describe fully the variations that merge and their
qualities.Thus, the assimilation phonemes include fortis/ lenis ,place of articulation and manner of
articulation.

1)Fortis / Lenis (voice) Variations :when the word ends with lenis (voiced) fricative followed by a word
initial Fortis (voiceless) consonant , speakers pronounce the lenis fricative as a fortis fricative and here
we have a regressive assimilation ,e.g :

with thanks /wið Ѳæηks/ / wiѲ Ѳ æηks/ (Roach,2000:139)

An example of progressive assimilation is the plural phoneme in 'cats' and 'bags' which is realized as /s/
or /z/ depending on the nature of the preceding sound ,thus,it is a voiceless fortis fricative when the
preceding sound is voiceless and it is voiced lenis fricative when the preceding sound is voiced
(Schane,1973:50).

149
 In this respect, Jones(1972:217) states that both contextual and historical assimilation can happen
. An example of the first one is when the sound /d/ in the word 'width' is replaced by /t/ under the
influence of / Ѳ / whereas the word in contextual assimilation is reduced to /z/ when preceded by a
voiced sound other than /z/ or / ʒ / .Examples are given respectively :

Width /widѲ / →/witѲ / , Who is there ? /hu: iz ðeə/→ /hu: z ðeə/

2)Variations of Place of articulation :The assimilation of this kind is usually found in regressive or
reciprocal assimilation which includes such changes that affect the final alveolar consonants when they
are at the end of the word.

A)Regressive Assimilation

1)/p/ replaces /t/ before /p,b,m/ ,e.g :right place ,right man, right book

2)/b/ replaces /d/ before /p,b,m/ ,e.g: good people ,good boy ,good men

3)/m/ replaces /n/ before /p,b,m/ ,e.g: one minute, one bag ,one picture

4)/k/ replaces /t/ before /k,g/ ,e.g: right coat ,right girl

5)/g/ replaces /d/ before /k,g/ ,e.g: good game ,bad king

6)/η/ replaces /n/ before /k,g/ ,e.g: one car ,one girl

7)/ ∫/ replaces /s/ before / ∫,j/ ,e.g: this shirt ,this year

8)/ ʒ / replaces /z/ before / ∫,j/ ,e.g: these shirts , these years

9)/mp/ replaces /nt/ before /p,b,m/ ,e.g: don't be angry ,don't miss it

10) /mb/ replaces /nd/ before /p,b,m/,e.g:stand by ,stand back

11)/ηk/ replaces /nt/ before /k,g/ ,e.g: I don't care ,don't go

12)/ηg/ replaces /nd/ before /k,g/ ,e.g: stand guard

(Roach ,2000:139 ; Gimson ,1970:294)

B) Reciprocal Assimilation :Crystal (2003:247) uses the term 'coalescence ' and it happens when alveolar
consonants /t,d,s,z/ are followed by /j/ ,this may produce sounds which are completely different from
the original sound ,e.g:

1)/t+j/ may be replaced by / ʧ /,e.g : don't you?

2)/d+j/ may be replaced by / ʤ / ,e.g: did you?

3)/s+j/ may be replaced by /∫ / ,e.g: of course you need it.

4)/z+j/ may be replaced by / ʒ / ,e.g:Has your friend arrived?

(Gimson,Ibid.)

Further,Jones(1972:222) states that the reciprocal assimilation as it is shown in the above examples
is a kind which belongs to the historical assimilation .

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 3)Assimilation of manner of articulation :It can be found only in rapid and casual speech.The regressive
assimilation can be happened and the usual change in manner is most likely to be towards an 'easier'
consonant ,i.e, one which makes less obstruction to the air flow ,e.g: That side /ðæt said/→ / ðæs
said/

4)nasality: nasalization of the sounds is mainly concerned with the alveolars especially adjacent to the
negative 'n't' and is very common in the rapid speech, e.g:

/d/→/n/ 'he would't do it' / /hi wunn (t) du: it/,

'good news' /gun nju:z/ (Gimson,1970:297)

The progressive assimilation of manner of articulation can be seen when a word –initial /ð/ follows a
plosive or nasal at the end of a preceding word.It is very common to find that the initial consonant
becomes identical in manner of articulation to the final consonant but with dental place of articulation
,e.g: read these / ri:d ði:z/→ /ri:d di:z/ (Roach ,2000:140)

Jones(1972:221-224 )and Schane (1973:52) mention three kinds of vowel assimilation .These can
operate for both historical and contextual assimilation and they can be summarized as follows:

1)a vowel is affected by another vowel :An example of historical assimilation as in the word 'men' which is
derived from an earlier /maniz/.Here ,/a/ was replaced by /e/ under the influence of /i/.Contextual
assimilation can occur when the usage of /i/ in the ordinary pronunciation of 'we are ' /wiə/ .Here, /i:/ is
replaced by /i/ under the influence of /ə /. Gimson (1970:68) mentions that this case is called vowel
harmony and it can be found in English like in words 'mice' and 'swan' and it is often called "internal
combinative ".The word 'mice ' contains the vowel /ai/ which results from an earlier /i:/ by means of an
isolative change but this /i:/sound in /mi:s/ changed as a result of a combinative process of vowel
harmony or 'i-mutation '.But the more recent change of this type is exemplified by the word 'swan' .This
word was pronounced as /swan/ or /swæn/ in about 1600 but the /w/ sound has rounded and retracted
the vowel to give the modern form /swɒn/ .Thus, we can see that there are many words which include
the sequences /w/+/a/ and they are pronounced as /w/ + / ɒ/ or /o:/ because of this combinative change
affecting this particular sound sequence,e.g (want,quality,war,water,etc.).

2)The vowels are modified by the adjacent consonants .Historical assimilation can be found in the word
'children' / ʧildrən/ → / ʧuldrən/ in which /i/ has replaced /u/ under the influence of the following dark
[l] . Contextual assimilation is not common and it can be found in the replacement of /ə / by /u/ under the
influence of a following /j/ or /w/ ,e.g, What are you doing /wot i ju duiη/ is pronounced instead of the
normal /wot ə ju duiη/

3)The consonant is modified by the adjacent vowel . Features of a vowel may be extended onto a consonant as
secondary modifications . Palatalization and labialization are common processes of this type .In palatalization
,the tongue position of a front vowel is superimposed on an adjacent consonant .In labialization ,the lip position
of a rounded vowel induces a secondary articulation onto the consonant. In English, the alterations exemplified
in 'electric' ,'electricity' ,and analogy reflect a historical palatalization followed by a shift in place of articulation
(Schane,ibid.).Another influence can be found In English /l/ pronounced with a relatively front vowel resonance,
before vowels and/j/ and it is called clear [l],e.g. light /lait/ and there is dark [l] which is pronounced with a
relatively back vowel resonance, finally and before a consonant, e.g. all /o:/ .There are two pronunciation of the
/l/ in Arabic :clear [l] and dark [l] Gimson (1980:178).

Finally, assimilation can be seen as total or partial . Total or complete assimilation refers to the
sound undergoing assimilation has become identical to the influencing sound ,e.g, the phrase 'that
place ' /ðæt pleis/ is pronounced as /ðæp pleis/ . Here, the alveolar /t/ becomes identical with bilabial
/p/ under the influence of the following sound (Ladefoged , 2006 :109) . But most assimilations are
partial assimilations in which the assimilated sound becomes only more similar , but not identical , to the

151
influencing sound. Partial assimilation can also refer to another assimilation which is called contact
assimilation in which the two sounds involved are directly adjacent. For example , the phrase 'ten pikes' is
pronounced as /tembaiks/ instead of /ten baiks/ in colloquial speech. Here , the alveolar sound /n/ is
changed to /m/ which is a bilabial sound under the influence of /b/ which is also a bilabial sound (
Deshpande et al.,2007:43 ; Trask ,1996:55)

1.1.2 Dissimilation and Differentiation

It is important to state one major reason behind using the assimilation is that it tends to reduce
the differences between phonemes as much as possible .It is clear that if this tendency can act freely ,it
can reduce to zero the distinctions between phonemes which are necessary for comprehension and
presuppose phonetic differences. But if the effects of assimilation threaten important distinctions so the
language reacts in such a way as to reestablish the indispensable differences of the phonemes
(Malmberg,1963 : 63) .Hence, dissimilation is the apposition process of assimilation when one or more
one of the sounds of one phoneme become unlike or dissimilar to those of another morpheme wherever
they are combined ( Deshpande et al. , 2007 : 43 ; Trask , 1996: 55) . In this respect , Malmberg (ibid.)
defines dissimilation as "a phonetic change which results in a sharpening of the differences between two
phonemes " whereas differentiation is defined as "two phonemes that are in contact and are separated
by others ".Thus , assimilation may also be categorized to whether the segments involved are in contact
or distant assimilation .Trask (1996:53) defines the contact assimilation as two sounds involved which
are directly adjacent and distant assimilation as sounds which are separated by other sounds ,i.e , in
which either progressively or regressively the influence moves across some intervening segment(s)
(Lass,1984:171).Sometimes , dissimilation serves to avoid an annoying repetition of two identical
phoneme .the English 'heaven' is the result of a change of /m/ to /v/ because of the final nasal (Malmberg
,1963:63).

1.2 Assimilation in Arabic

The sounds of any language are influenced when they are adjacent to each other in a single word
or two words because the speech of any language accords with phonetic harmony .Hence, wherever
there are two sounds in one word or two words and they have ,for example, the same place of
articulation ,the first sound can affect the second sound and vice versa .It is a process which occurs when
the first sound connects with the more alike sound without intervening any vowel between them so that
the tongue is raised once time to reduce the muscular effort of the speaker to make the articulation easy
since the speaker feels a difficulty in raising the tongue to repeat the same movement in producing the
two similar sounds ( ١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫ ا‬,137:2007) .In this regard , ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬145:1975) indicates that the influence rate
is different from one sound to another and there are some of the sounds which are quickly influenced by
other sounds more than others in connected speech . The adjacency between the sounds is the major
reason behind occurring the assimilation . Additionally, assimilation is called and defined differently in
Arabic .Sibawayh has used the term (Al-Mumathala ) ( ‫ )أُٔبصِخ‬whereas those who are coming after him
have used the terms (mudharaa) ( ‫ )أُضبسػخ‬and (approximation )( ‫ت‬٣‫ )اُزوش‬.Seebawayah states that (Al-
Mumathala ) ( ‫ )أُٔبصِخ‬happens when the sounds are influenced by each other and the assimilation
( ّ‫)االدؿب‬occurs when this influence will be utmost between the adjacent sounds (ibid . :164) . likewise ,
‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬280:1998) uses the term (Al-Mumathala) which refers to a transformation of the different
phonemes into similar ones either partially or completely and it may include many kinds of effects
between sounds like small assimilation ,big assimilation ,deviation ,substitution ,manifestation and etc. .
َ٤ِ‫( ػجذ اُج‬283:1998) indicates that Brosnahan defines assimilation as "the quality modifications of the
sound when it is adjacent to other sounds " . Assimilation is a phonetic phenomenon in speech and its
function is to approximate between the two similar or homogeneous sounds in their pronunciation ( ‫دساس‬
,186:2007). ‫خ‬٤‫( اُؼغ‬70:1983) adds that these sounds are assimilated according to their agreement in the
place of articulation and other features like manner of articulation ,voice ,etc.. Finally,one important
thing should be mentioned which is that the assimilation process is regarded as one form of doubling
(‫ق‬٤‫ )اُزضؼ‬because in the word( ّ‫ ) ٓذ‬,the two similar sounds are pronounced as one geminated sound which

152
is the sound /d/ and the tongue is raised once time .For this reason ,Ibn Jini defines assimilation as the
sound approaches to another in order to be close to it and this means that the articulation of the
repeated sound is produced one time and the air is trapped for a longer time than usual to reduce the
muscular effort of the speaker. (Ibid.)

1.2.1 Kinds of Assimilation

Generally speaking , ‫خ‬٤‫( اُؼغ‬83:1983) , ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬240:1998), ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬145:1975), ١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫( ا‬139:2007) ,and
‫(دساس‬186:2007) mention that traditionalists classify asssimilation , depending on the adjacent sounds and
according to the quran reciters , into two kinds :

1.big assimilation occurs when the first sound of the two assimilated sounds is a movent whether the two
sounds are similar ,homogeneous ,or approximate ,i.e , there is a short leen sound that separates
between the two sounds .For example , when the feminine /t/ assimilated with the sound /s/ or /dh/ and
the sound /r/ assimilates with the sound /l/ as in the following quranic verses :

( ٌُ‫طََذخيْه‬
ّ ِ‫ ) وَعََيىُا اىصَاىحات‬or (ً‫) هَُِ َأطهَ س هَهَُِ( )اىعَادياتْ ضَتحا‬

2.small assimilation happens when the first sound is a quiescent (with sukoon). ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬242:1998) mentions
that this assimilation refers to the approximation of one sound to another in which the first deviates to
bending to become like the other sound .It occurs with many cases like:

1.(deviation) (‫ٓبُخ‬٥‫ )ا‬2.in the verbs whose template are /Ɂftaala/ (َ‫ )اكزؼ‬when the second sound is / ṣ, , ẓ ,
ḍ / 3.in the verbs whose template are / Ɂftaala/ in which the second sound is / z , d , ð / 4.when the
sound /s/ is followed by one of the( AL-AstaalaɁ sounds or velarized sounds ) ( ‫ االعجبم‬ٝ‫عزؼالء ا‬٥‫ف ا‬ٝ‫ )دش‬5.
the approximation of one sound to another when they occur with pharyngeal sounds.

Thus, the small assimilation means the harmony between the two sounds either it occurs in one word or
two words and it is very necessary to facilitate the process of articulation .Generally,these sounds will be
very close in the point of articulation or other features especially when there is a change in the weak
sound to the strong one .

Broadly speaking, assimilation can be classified into complete and partial assimilation . The complete
assimilation occurs between the two similar sounds which have participating features like in the
following example :‫ستط → ستطث‬

Here,the sound /t/ is influenced by the velarized sound / / that comes before it and it is changed to the
geminated sound /  / ,whereas the partial assimilation occurs between the two close or approximate
sounds like in the words : ‫فحصط→ فحصث‬

‫→فضت‬ ‫فضد‬

Here,the sound /t/ is influenced by the preceding sound which is the velarized sound / ṣ / and the
voiced sound /z/ in which they have been changed to the velarized sound / ṣ / and the voiced sound /d/
respectively(‫ت‬٣‫ اُؾب‬,192:2004)

Moreover,assimilation can occur between

1. the consonants 2.the consonants and vowels 3.the vowels

1)Assimilation of the Consonants

153
 ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬244:1998 ) ,‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬145:1975) ,١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫( ا‬139:2007) , and ‫ ( دساس‬186:2007) mention that
modernists classify assimilation of the consonants into three kinds regarding the direction of the
assimilation process:

1.regressive assimilation : it means the first sound affects the second sound.Ibn Jini called this assimilation
as a small assimilation ,for example ,the changing of the second sound if it is /w/ into the sound /t/ (‫ )ت‬in
the verbs whose template is / Ɂfta'ala/ as in : ‫ اجعذ ٍِ وعذ‬, ←‫يحطهش← يطهش‬
‫ اطهش‬, ‫يحثاقو← يثاقو← اثاقو‬

as in the following quranic verses :

(‫ض‬
ِ ‫ً االَس‬
َ ‫ )يَأيهاْ اىزيَِ َأٍَْىا ٍَا َىنٌُ ارا قِيوْ ىنٌُ َأّفشوُا في عَثيوَ اهلل أثاقَيحٌُ اى‬,( َ‫) وٍَا يُذسيلَ ىَعيهُ يَضمً اَو يزْمش فَحَْفعهُ اىزَمشي‬

2.progressive assimilation :it means the second sound affects the first one .

(‫ؾ‬٤‫ اُق‬, 244:1998 )

The first kind is more commonly found in Arabic language than the second kind. ‫خ‬٤‫( اُؼغ‬70:1983) and ‫ػجذ‬
َ٤ِ‫ ( اُج‬283:1998) add a third kind :

3.compound (coalescent) assimilation :the sounds are influenced by each other .It occurs in a word when
the sound is preceded and followed by a similar sound in which the features are influenced by the
features of these two sounds and this depends on the speaker's desire to assimilate these sounds to
obtain easy articulation like :

‫طثطة‬,‫ طقطق‬,‫صىضه‬

Generally, assimilation is subdivided into four types:

A)fortis vs. lenis ( ‫ٔظ‬ُٜ‫ا‬ٝ ‫ش‬ٜ‫ )اُج‬:it happens when the second sound of the verbs whose form / Ɂfta'ala/
(َ‫ )اكزؼ‬changes into one of the sounds /z,d, ð / like :ُ‫أصجاُ← أصدا‬

, ‫ أصججش←أصدجش‬, ‫ أرجنش←أردمش‬,‫أصجاد← أصداد‬

Here, progressive assimilation happens and we find the sound /z/ voiced and fricative whereas the sound
/t/ is voiceless and stop ,hence the sound /t/ has changed to the sound /d/ since the latter has the same
point of articulation of the sound /t/ and the same voice feature of the sound /z/ ( ‫خ‬٤‫ اُؼغ‬,75:1983) .
Sometimes, the words ( ‫أصداد‬,‫ ) أردًش‬become as ( ‫أصاد‬, ‫ ) أرًش‬and here the progressive assimilation which
happened also because the second sound changed to the first one .However,it is commonly used a word
like ( ‫ )أدًش‬in which the first sound is influenced by the second one and here regressive assimilation
happens in this case .Hence ,both progressive and regressive assimilation can be happened with this case
( ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫ أ‬, 47:1975 ) .One important thing should be mentioned here is that the assimilation can occur if the
first sound is a quiescent (sakin) and there is no vowel (haraka) separates between the two sounds .
However,in Arabic language ,there is no voiced sound adjacent to its counterpart voiceless sound like /d/
and /t/ , /z/ and /s/,etc.otherwise one of the two sounds must be changed to the other sound in which
both of the two sounds must be either voiced or voiceless sounds.But the assimilation will not occur if
there is a voiced sound followed by non-counterpart voiceless sound otherwise the two sounds are
different completely in their features ,e.g,in the verb )‫) أصربد‬, the sound /t/ changed to its counterpart
voiced sound /d/(‫ )د‬which is also voiced like the sound /z/ and the word becomes (‫ )اصداد‬.while in the word
( ‫ )اؿزقت‬,the assimilation can not occur because the friction of the sound / ੪ / is less than the friction of
the sound /z/ in the previous example and this is why this rule restricted to the verbs which begin with
the sounds /z, ð / because they are the most voiced friction sounds (ibid.:149).

154
B)plosion and friction ( ‫ح‬ٝ‫اُشخب‬ٝ ‫ )اُؾذح‬:This kind of assimilation can happen when there is a changing in the
feature of the sound from the plosion to the friction or friction to the plosion ( ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫ أ‬,150:1975). It occurs
when the fricative sound /s/ in the word ( ‫ )عذط‬is preceded by the stop sound /d/ and it has changed to
the sound /t/ which is the counterpart of the sound /d/ and the word became as ( ‫)عذد‬. In this respect ,
Ibn Jini assures that this case is called approximation without assimilation ( ّ‫ش ادؿب‬٤‫ت ُـ‬٣‫ )روش‬but later on
the assimilation occurs when the sound /d/ is assimilated to the sound /t/ and the word changed into
( ‫)عذ‬in order to be close to the fricative sound /s/.It is the regressive assimilation that happened
here.(Ibid.)

‫)عذط( ← عذد ← عذ‬

C)Velarization and non-velarization (‫االٗلزبح‬ٝ ‫عجبم‬٥‫)ا‬:AL-Saygh(1998:244) assures that both the progressive
and regressive assimilation can happen in this kind .He mentions Ibn Jini 's example about the changing
of the second sound /t/ in the verbs whose template /Ɂ ftaala/ (َ‫ )اكزؼ‬into one of the velarized sounds /ṣ,
, ẓ , ḍ / and here the sound /t/ assimilates to its velarized counterpart because it is influenced by the
adjacent velarized sounds as in :

‫أصحثش← أصطثش‬, ‫أضحشب← أضطشب‬, ٌ‫أظحيٌ← أظطى‬

‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬174:1975) indicates that the sound /t/ is changed to the verlarized sound / ḍ / and the
traditionalists called the modern / ḍ / as the sound /  / and here the word can be pronounced as (ِْ‫)أظض‬
and sometimes it can be pronounced as ( ِْ‫ )أظغ‬.Then ,this word became as ( ِْ‫ )أظ‬and also it is found that
word (ِْ‫ )أع‬is used and it is the regressive assimilation which happened .

D)vocal tract transition ( ‫د‬ٞ‫ اُق‬ٟ‫)اٗزوبٍ ٓجش‬:It means the air passage changes from the mouth to the nose
and from the nose to the mouth.It includes two kinds :

1)This kind happens by assimilating a nasal sound like /n/ to its nasal counterpart /m/ . Sibawayh called
this kind of assimilation as (Meem assimilatiom ) as in :

‫ٍِ تل ←ٍَثل‬,‫شْثاء وعْثش←اشَثاء وعَثش‬

Here, the sound /n/ is assimilated to the sound /m/ because the latter is very close in the point of
articulation to the sound /n/ (ibid.)

2)This kind happens when one of the oral sounds change to a nasal sound as a result of the assimilation
process .For instance the sound /b/ is changed to the sound/m/ because both of them are bilabial
sounds like :

‫أسمة ٍعْا← أسمَعْا‬, ‫أصحة ٍطش←اأصحََطشا‬

The changing of the nasal to the oral sound can be found when /n/ changes to /l/ because both of them
are similar to leen sounds and tongue tip production as in the following quranic verses : ٌ‫فَأُ َىٌْ جَفَعيىُا← فأى‬
‫جفعيىا‬ ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫(أ‬150:1975)

E)point of articulation change :It occurs when the point of articulation of sound changes to that of other
sound whose point of articulation is very close to it ,e.g,the sound /t/ changes to the sound /k/ when the
tongue moves towards the back of the palate because these two sounds are voiceless plosive sounds
(‫ذ‬٤‫ )ػق‬used to be (‫ٌب‬٤‫ )ػق‬in some ancient dialects (ibid.).

In addition to that , ‫خ‬٤‫ ( اُؼغ‬84-82:1983) and ١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫ ( ا‬137:2007) assert that the regressive and
progressive assimilation can happen between two kinds of sounds: 1.similar sounds
2.approximate sounds

155
1) the first kind is called similar assimilation ( ٖ٤ِ‫ أُض‬ٝ‫ٖ ا‬٤ِ‫ ) ادؿبّ أُزٔبص‬and it happens between two adjacent
sounds which are similar in the point of articulation and features of the sounds ,i.e, manner of articulation
,voice ,and movement of the tongue .It can happen in one word whether the first sound is a
quiescent(sakin) like the first sound /  / in the word ( ‫ )هغّغ‬or the first sound is a movent like the
sound /d/ in (‫ ػّد‬, ‫ ) ّ ّد‬. Also,it occurs in two words and here the first sound is a quiescent(sakin) and the
second sound is a movent(muthrak) so the first sound assimilates to the second one as in the following
quranic verses : )‫) أضْشِب بِعَصاكَ اىحَجشْ) ( قُوْ ال أجِذ فيَْا أوُحي إىي‬

Moreover, ‫( دساس‬187:2007) mentions six cases about the assimilation between the two similar sounds.It is
clear that the hidden case is used instead of the assimilation process whenever there are two similar in
one word or two words and there is a quiescent sound before them in order to avoid the adjacency
between the two quiescent sounds in the individual and structural forms.

Briefly,these cases are summarized as follows :

1) well assimilation ( ّ‫ )دغٖ االدؿب‬:the well assimilation happens when there are two movent similar
sounds which are either followed or preceded by a quiescent long soft (leen)sound like ) ‫د‬ٝ‫ذا‬٣←‫د‬ٝ‫ذ دا‬٣).

2) Permissibility of assimilation( ّ‫اص االدؿب‬ٞ‫)ج‬:the assimilation may or may not happen when there is a
movent sound before the first sound and the assimilation may not occur when the second sound can be
separated from the first word as in (‫) جؼِي‬or (‫)جؼَ ُي‬

3) well manifestation(ٕ‫ب‬٤‫ اُج‬ٝ‫بسا‬ٜ‫)دغٖ االظ‬:it is better to manifest the two similar sounds when there is a soft
(leen) sound /w/ before the first sound because what is formed is a structure includes two quiescent
sounds which are unacceptable in Arabic like )‫ة ثٌش‬ٞ‫)ص‬.

4) Impossible assimilation ( ّ‫)آز٘بع االدؿب‬:The assimilation must not happen with the terms that have the
template /faalal/ if the first sound is with fatha or kasrah like in ( ‫ )هشدد‬since the result will be a structure
contains two quiescent sounds .The hidden case can be used in this case which means the articulation of
the quiescent sound without germination ,i.e, the articulation is between the assimilation and
manifestation

5) what is substituted because of inflexibility( ‫جذٍ اعزضوبال‬٣ ‫)ٓب‬:it occurs with the pharyngeal sounds when
there are two adjacent sounds that must be changed into another sound like(‫الال ←اهغذالال‬ٛ ‫)اهغغ‬.

2)The second kind is called approximate assimilation ( ٖ٤‫ )ادؿبّ أُزوبسث‬that can not happen between the
two adjacent sounds which are very close in the point of articulation and different in the features .It
occurs when the two approximate sounds assimilate into similar sounds which have the same or
approximate point of articulation and features of these sounds . (١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫ ا‬,140:2007)

The kinds of the approximate sounds with their assimilation are too long that it may take too long
pages,and since this study generally compares assimilation in Arabic and English ,the researcher tries to
state briefly the kinds of the approximate sounds and the major reasons behind occurring the
assimilation or not of these sounds . Besides, the researcher will mention only the assimilation of the
definite article and quiescent /n/ and tanween (nunation) when adjacent to other letters since they can
not be summarized and they are important to be mentioned.

However,According to ‫ ( درار‬207- 192:2007) ,the kinds of the approximate sounds assimilation can
be summarized as follows

1) The assimilation of prolongation and soft sounds /a,w,j /

2)The assimilation of the pharyngeal sounds / x ,੪ ,ħ, ᶜ,a, h ,Ɂ /

156
3) The assimilation of the uvular sounds(‫خ‬٣ُِٜٞ‫اد ا‬ٞ‫ )االف‬/q,k/

4)The assimilation of orificial sounds (‫خ‬٣‫اد اُؾجش‬ٞ‫ )االف‬/j, ∫ ,ʤ /

5) The assimilation of liquid sounds (‫خ‬٤‫اد اُزُو‬ٞ‫) االف‬/r,l,/

6)Bilabial and labiodental sounds ( ‫اد أُزُوخ‬ٞ‫ )االف‬/b,f,m/

7) The assimilation of the tippy and lateral sounds

According to Seebawayah ,this can be classified as follows:

1)Alveolar sounds( ‫خ‬٤‫اد اُ٘غؼ‬ٞ‫ )االف‬/  ,t,d/

2) Apical sounds ( ‫خ‬٤ِ‫اد االع‬ٞ‫) االف‬/ ṣ ,z,s/

8) Dental sounds /ẓ , ð , Ѳ/

9) Assimilation of the quiescent /n/ and tanween (nunation) when adjacent to

other letters

Gradually ,the following are the major reasons why sometimes assimilation of the approximate sounds
may occur or not :

1)It is noticed that some sounds neither assimilate with others nor other sounds assimilate with them
such sounds are /a,w,j / .Concerning the sounds /w/ or /j/ ,If there is fatha before /w/ or /j/ ,these two
sounds can not assimilate with the adjacent sounds since they have the feature of prolongation and
softness which will disappear in the assimilation , besides, assimilation needs that the second sound
must be a quiescent and assimilate with the second sound .Hence,in this way this feature will vanish
because the strength and intensity of the sound will increase in the assimilation. Also, they can not be
assimilated with the adjacent sounds even if they are corresponded with the preceding vowel ,i.e,
dhamma before /w/ and kasrah before /j/ ,because they are prolonged (madd) sounds and in this way
they are similar to (Ɂ alif) (‫ )أ‬in which there is fatha before them as in ( ‫ا ٓبٌُب‬ِٞٔ‫ )ظ‬and ( ٢ِ٘ٔ‫اظ‬
‫)جبثشا‬.Gradually , some of the sounds have features that must be kept without change and assimilation can
not happen in this case like

A)the spread feature (٢‫ )اُزلؾ‬of the sound /∫/ as in the quranic verse:(ً‫ْب دُجب‬ٜ‫ػؿل‬
َ ْ‫مد‬
َ ),

B)AL-Ta'afeef (‫ق‬٤‫)اُزأك‬feature of the sound /f/ since it is produced through the mouth as in ( (‫→)ارهة في رىل‬
(‫) ارهفي طشيقل‬,

c)the feature of ghunna (nasalisation) for the sounds /m,n/ which gives the sound a nice resonance as in
(‫) افذٔغشا( → )افذت ٓغشا‬

d)the feature of velarization (‫ )االعجبم‬like the sounds /ẓ, ṣ , / as in

(‫)ادجقبثشا(→ )ادجظ فبثشا‬

( except that some sounds like must be changed to the most close sound for the velarized sounds / ẓ ,,
ḍ,ṣ/ like the sound (‫ )ر‬as in the quranic verse :

(ُٚ‫هذ ػَُ َْ َٗلغ‬

‫ف‬
َ َ‫َلؼَْ رَُي‬٣ َْٖٓ َٝ) & (ِٖ٤َٓ‫ْ أٌُُْش‬٤َٛ‫ق اةسا‬٣َ‫سَ ك‬١‫ََْ أَرَبىَ دَذ‬ٛ )

e)the trill feature of the sound /r/ as in (َ‫ )أعبسثي(→ (اعَأٍْ سَثي‬.

157
2)Sometimes,it is better to manifest the two sounds without assimilation because what is the result it is
difficult in pronunciation like the sounds / ħ,h/ as in (‫الال‬ٛ ‫)آذح‬

3)In the assimilation of the voiced and voiceless sounds, the voice feature overcomes the voiceless
feature like in the two sounds / ੪ ,x /as in (‫)اكشؽ خبرٔب‬

4)Sometimes there are some sounds that can not assimilate with each other like /h , ᶜ / but they must
change to another sound like / ħ / as in: )‫(ٍع هؤالء←ٍحؤالء‬

In addition,another different /l/ can be found in Arabic which is called the definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬. This
sound is the most common sound that tends to assimilate with other sounds because it is quickly
influenced by the adjacent sounds .The big assimilation here occurs in which there is a movent (haraka)
before the assimilated sound .

Moreover, ١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫( ا‬141:2007) mentions two cases of the assimilation of the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/?al/ :

A)In Arabic ,there are certain letters called 'sun-letters' which are thirteen

/ ∫, ð , ṣ,d,n, ẓ ,, ḍ,s,z, Ѳ,t,r/ , and the definite article ' Ɂٍ‫ ٱ‬assimilates in pronunciation with them as
one sound that has one point of articulation because both of them are very close in the point of
articulation .Thus,here (laam) is called the (sun laam ) when it assimilates with the sounds of the front of
the mouth , e.g : ََُ‫ اُﱡسج‬/’arrajula/ instead of /’alrajulu/ , ‫ظ‬
ُ ْٓ‫ اُؾﱡ‬/’ashshamsu/ instead of
/’alshamsu/

According to the traditionalists , the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/ Ɂal/ assimilates completely with the sun
letters and the point of articulation of the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/ Ɂal/ will be similar to the sun letters and
this is why it is called "sun laam".While modernists state the contrary view and the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/
Ɂal/ does not assimilate completely with the sun letters because the features of the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/
Ɂal/ in such words like (‫اُخ‬,‫اُِجبط‬,‫اُالػت‬,‫ ) اُِـخ‬have the same features as in the words ( ,‫ذ‬٣‫اُذذ‬,‫اُجبة‬
‫ )اُخ‬.

In this regard,Sibawayh indicates the following:

1)The sound /l/ assimilates with the sounds / ḍ, ∫/ as in (‫اُؾشاة‬ٝ ‫ء‬ٞ‫)اُض‬when the definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬comes
before one of these sounds .Here, / ḍ /deviates to one of the two edges of the tongue or both of them
and during its movement between the two edges of the tongue it touches the point of articulating /l/
and gets mixed with it .The same thing is with / ∫/ whose sound scatters and spreads in mouth until it
reaches /l/ .

2) The definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬with thalqeea sounds /r,n,l/ :

the definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬assimilates with /r,n,l/ as in the following examples:( ٕ‫ب‬٤‫اُ٘غ‬ٝ ٕ‫اُشًجبٕ()اُ٘ؼٔب‬ٝ َ‫)اُشج‬.

3) The definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬can assimilate with alveolar sounds(‫خ‬٤‫اد اُ٘غؼ‬ٞ‫)االف‬

/ ,d,t/ and apical sounds(‫خ‬٤ِ‫اد االع‬ٞ‫ )االف‬/ ṣ ,z,s /.

4) the definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬can assimilate with the dental sounds but its assimilation is weaker than the
assimilation of the alveolar sounds and apical sounds.

In brief,the following are cases of the assimilation of the definite article (ٍ‫ )ا‬with other sounds:

158
1.weak assimilation with the sounds / / ḍ, ∫/

2.strong assimilation with the sounds / ẓ , ð , Ѳ /

3.the assimilation will be more stronger with the sound /  / and its sisters /t,d/ and the sound / ṣ / and
its sisters /s,z/ .

4.simile assimilation with the sounds /n,r/

B)There is another group of letters called 'moon-letters' .These are /k,m,w,Ɂ ,d ,l,f, q , ੪ , ᶜ , x , ħ , h ,b ,j ,
ʤ / and have no effect on the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/?al/. Here, the (moon laam) keeps its point of
articulation without assimilation because the moon letters and the definite article 'ٍ‫' ٱ‬/?al/ are different
in the point of articulation ,e.g :

ُ‫ اُجَبة‬/’albaabu/ , َ‫ اٌُشُح‬/ ’alkura/ , ُ‫ اُؤََش‬/’alqamaru/

It is important to mention the assimilation of the quiescent /n/ and tanween (nunation) when it is
adjacent to other letters.Tanween is a quiescent /n/ which makes a special resonance in its articulation
and it adds in final position of the noun in a condition that these nouns are not resistant to tanween .It is
pronounced in connected speech without stopping and it is never written (noonan) in the handwriting.It
is found that the quiescent /n/ and tanween are influenced by the adjacent sounds especially the sounds
that come after them . The sound /n/ is considered as the most important one since it is related to the
many tongue sounds except the pharyngeal sounds and the quiescent /n/ does not change and keeps its
features when it is adjacent to the pharyngeal sounds / x ,੪ ,ħ, ᶜ, h ,Ɂ / because both of them are
different in the point of articulation and features . Tajweed scientists assure that the quiescent /n/ and
tanween should be pronounced here cursorily without nasalization (ghunna) and manifesting the sound
that comes after it . Quran reciters define nasalization (ghunna) as "a sound which is produced through
the nasal chambers "and according to modernists it is defined as " lengthening the noon sound with
musical frequency and the time of ghunna production is almost double than the production time of the
manifested noon" as in the following quranic verses : )‫ِبء‬٤ْ‫شْ أد‬٤َ‫ْاد ؿ‬ٞٓ‫اً أدَذْ)(أ‬ٞ‫( َْٖٓ أ َْٖٓ)(ًُل‬

‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬240:1998) and ١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫( ا‬144:2007 ) classify the assimilation of nasalization (ghunna) into incomplete
and complete assimilation.However,the cases of the quiescent /n/ and tanween are as follows:

A)Nasalization (ghunna) assimilation and it is also called incomplete assimilation.It refers to a sound that
does not vanish totally but leaves a sound after vanishing an effect that is felt.It means the assimilation of
the quiescent /n/ and tanween with the sounds /n,m,w,j/ These can be summarized as follows :

1) the sound /n/ with sounds /w ,j / : the nasalization (ghunna) must be manifested in the sounds /w,j/
since these are two liquid sounds and the remnant must be kept without change as an indication of
assimilating the sound /n/ .Hence, this assimilation occurs when the first sound assimilates partially with
the second sound in which some of the features are kept without change like nasalization (ghunna)
feature. According to Sibawayh ,the sound /n/ can assimilate with or without nasalization like in (َٔ‫ؼ‬٣ ٖٓ)
and here the nasalization (ghunna) of the sound /n/ is not produced through the nasal chambers but it is
the consonant/j/ which absorb nasalization (ghunna) . It is important to mention that the sounds /w,j/
can not assimilate with the sound /n/ because they can not assimilate with other sounds nor other
sounds can assimilate with them .The following quranic verses are given respectively:

)ُ‫جَْْاتٌ وَعْيىُ ←جْاجىعيى‬ ٌ‫(ٍَِْ وَسْائِهٌ← ٍىسائه‬. 2) ‫(وٍَِْ َيعًَْو← وٍيعَو‬. 1

We can see in the above examples, the sound /n/ is not produced when it is followed by the sounds
/j,w/ but the nasalized /j,w/ sounds that are produced in which the air passes through both the mouth
and the nose.In this respect,qura'an reciters indicate that this is the only case can be found in which the

159
air passes through both the mouth and nose and the quiescent /n/ and tanween are inverted into /j,w/
which then are called nasopharynx sounds ( ‫خ‬٤ٓٞ‫ؾ‬٤‫اد اُخ‬ٞ‫)االف‬. ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫(أ‬150:1975) calls this case in Arabic as
(‫خ‬٤ٔ‫))االٗل‬nasalization) and it could be found in French and Judaism languages when their speakers tend to
produce these sounds through their nose and they are called the nasal speakers ( ‫)خ٘ق‬.It is so called
incomplete assimilation because the "noon "sound does not invert completely but it is produced in
nasalization (ghunna) in which the air partly passes through the nasal cavity.Actually , nasalized sounds
are also found in English when the sound is followed by a nasal sound like camp,calm,can ,ran,etc.

2)the sound /n/ is adjacent to another sound/n/ and here it is the similar assimilation which happens and
nasalization (ghunna) means the lengthening of the geminated sound and we can hear a nice musical note
when it is produced like in

ٌُْ‫دُغخٌَ َٗـلَش ٌَُْْ← دغز٘ـلش‬, ‫( َْٖٓ ُٗغلخٌ← ٓ٘غلخ‬.

3) the sound /n/ is adjacent to the sound /m/ and the sound /n/ assimilated completely to the sound /m/
because the latter is also a nasal sound in which the air passes through the nose .There is no agreement
upon whether nasalization (ghunna) is related to the sound /n/ or the sound /m/ but generally it is
noticed that nasalization (ghunna) is ghunna /m/ because as Sibawayh assures that sound /m/ (ّ) rarely
assimilated to any adjacent sound but here it is assimilated to the sound /n/ and ghunna is produced
through the nasal chambers.In this case, the sound /n/ vanishes totally with the sound/ m/ and ghunna
here is called the ghunna of the geminated /m/ (‫ْ أُؾذدح‬٤ُٔ‫ظ( )ؿ٘خ ا‬٤ٗ‫أ‬,65:1975) .

The assimilation is incomplete because nasalization (ghunna) happens after the assimilated sounds as in :
)‫ٔب‬٤‫فشاعٔغزو‬ ← ً‫ٔب‬٤‫ فَشاعبً ٓغُزَو‬, ‫ ( َْٖٓ ْٓبٍ اهلل← ٓٔبٍ اهلل‬١ٞ‫ع‬ُٞٔ‫( ا‬16:2007 ) .

B)Assimilation without nasalization (ghunna) and it is also called the complete assimilation . It means
that there is no trace for one of the two sounds after vanishing and this occurs when there is after
quiescent /n/ the sounds /l/ or /r/ . ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬240:1998) indicates that the assimilation occurs between the
two sounds in which the first sound completely assimilates with other sounds as in the following quranic
verses :

)ْٜ‫َْ← ٓشث‬ٜ‫ٖ)( َْٖٓ سِث‬٤‫ذُِٔزو‬ٛ← ِٖ٤‫ ُُِِٔزَو‬ٟ‫ُذ‬ٛ(

We can see that in the above examples,the sound /n/ is completely inverted into the sounds /l,r/ .It is
clear that the most important feature of the sound /r/ is the trilled feature (‫ش‬٣‫ )اُزٌش‬so when it assimilates
with other sounds like the sound /n/ ,this sound will disappear and it happens here complete assimilation
in which there is no nasalization (ghunna) happened after this assimilation.

It is important to note that Sibawayh indicates that the quiescent /n/ and tanween can be happened
with or without nasalization (ghunna) when it assimilates with the sounds /l,r/ . Thus, the sound /n/ can
assimilate with sound /l/ like ( ‫ )ِٓي (→)ٖٓ ُي‬.The assimilation can occur with or without nasalization
(ghunna) and in this way the sound/n/ can be regarded as one of the tongue sounds because the sound
which follows it can not be produced through the nasal chambers .However,the assimilation of the sound
/l/ with the sound /n/ is possible like (ٟ‫َ ٗش‬ٛ)→(ٟ‫٘ش‬ٛ) .It is noticed that the sound /n/ can assimilate with
the sound/ l/ and vice versa and also with other sounds but other sounds can not assimilate with it and
here Sibawayh did not mention any clear reason behind this and this may be due to avoid converting the
sound /n/ from its original position in the assimilation.However, both complete and incomplete
assimilation can happen in the assimilation of quiescent /n/ and tanween with the sounds /l,r/ (ibid.:147).

3)the quiescent /n/ and tanween are inverted to the sound /m/ if they come before the sound /b/
because the sound /n/ and the sound /b/ are different in the place of articulation and the sound /m/ is a
bilabial sound like the sound /b/ and at the same time it is nasal sound like the sound /n/ as in the
following quranic verses:

‫ُس‬ٝ‫ْْ ثِزَادْ اُقَذ‬٤َِ‫ػ‬, ‫ش‬٤ْ‫غٌ ثَق‬٤َٔ‫إَ اهلل ع‬, ْْٜ‫أَٗجَئ‬

160
4)the quiescent /n/ and tanween are hidden when they come before the fifteen oral sounds /q,k, ʤ, ∫,s,z,
ḍ,ṣ,ẓ,d,f,t, Ѳ, ð/ and these sounds are produced through the nasal chambers as in following quranic
verses:

‫ب‬ِٜ٤‫خْبُذًا ك‬,‫بس‬ْٜٗ‫ب اال‬ْٜ‫ْ َْٖٓ رَذز‬١‫جَ٘بدٌ رَجش‬, ً‫ْبهب‬َٛ‫ًَأعبً د‬ٝ, ً‫ِذا‬٣‫الً عَذ‬َٞ‫ه‬,َْ٤َٔ‫كَقَجشٌ ج‬,‫ِت‬٣‫غٌ هَش‬٤َٔ‫ع‬

Moreover,There are three cases of the sound /m/ assimilation :

1)the sound /m/ assimilates to another sound /m/ and they become as a geminated /m/ that are
produced with ghunna and it is called a bilabial assimilation as in the following quranic verse: ٍَِْ ‫وَادعىُا‬
)........ َِ‫اعحطعح‬............( ) ‫اعحَطع ُحٌْ ٍَِْ دوُْ اهلل‬

2)the sound /m/ is hidden when it is adjacent to the sound /b/ produced with nasalization (ghunna) and
it is called bilabial hiding as in the following quranic verse : ) ‫ْ ثِذْجبسَح‬ِٜ٤ْٓ‫)رَش‬

3)the sound /m/ must manifest when it is adjacent to the other sounds especially the two sounds /w,f/
and it is called bilabial manifestation as in the following quranic verse : ‫َال‬ٝ ْْٜ٤َِ‫ػ‬, ُٕٝ‫َال اَٗزُْْ ػْبثَذ‬ٝ, ُٕٝ‫غزٌَجش‬٣ ْ‫ُْْ ال‬َٛٝ
‫هُْْ كأٗزُس‬, ِٖ٤ُ‫( اُضْب‬ibid.:150)

2) Assimilation of the Consonants and vowels

The assimilation here means the impact of the vowels on the consonants by changing their point of
articulation to regulate their features and the impact of the consonants on the vowels by changing the
vowels to other vowels which corresponded with their natures .

A)The Impact of the vowels on the consonants

Vowels affect consonants when they are connected with them in speech in which they regulate their
point of articulation or features ,or both of them .Hence,the consonants are changed according to the
kind of the adjacent vowel like the point of articulation of the sound /s/ in ( ِٖ‫ )ع‬becomes more forward
than the sound /s/ in ( ََ‫ )ع‬.Also, both of them are also more forward in comparison with the sound /s/ in
( ٌْ‫ )ع‬and this is due to that consonants tend to change or regulate the point of articulation according to
the accompanying vowels ,i.e,the preceding and following vowels.

Palatalization

The palatalization phenomenon is commonly found between the consonants and vowels.The dental and
velarized sounds are influenced by the neighboring vowels,e.g ,in most of the languages , the sounds /k/
and /g/ are uvular when they are adjacent to 'dhamma' /u/ or ' declensioned fatha '/e/ and more velar
with kasrah and it will be moderate with fatha.Palatalization has an important role in forming the affricate
sound / ʤ/ which is the same sound (‫ )ط‬in Arabic .Hence,the original sound of the Arabic / ʤ/ (‫ )ط‬is /g/
.Likewise ,when the sound /k/ comes with the adjacent 'kasrah' ,the point of articulation becomes more
front in which it is formed a palatalized affricate sound /ʧ / which is the voiceless counterpart for the
Arabic sound / ʤ/ and also for another sound / ʧ/ and they are known in Arabic as 'AL-Kashkasha and AL-
Kaskasa phenomenon '( ‫اٌُغٌغخ‬ٝ ‫شح اٌُؾٌؾخ‬ٛ‫ )ظب‬.One important point should be mentioned here is that /g/
disappeared in standard Arabic because of the palatalization of the sound /g/ in which it is substituted by
the affricate sound / ʤ/ and it is called "AL-Geem AL-Faseeha" whereas the palatalization of the sound
/k/ gives a new sound which is either /ts /( ‫ )رظ‬or / ʧ/ ( ‫)رؼ‬but these two sounds are regarded as two bad
sounds which can not be used in the Arabic language and hence the sound /k/ is still as a basic sound in
the standard Arabic language. Linguists could not justify why the palatalization phenomenon happens
and the reason behind it and they even could not understand it very well and this may be due to that

161
linguists are not convinced about the impact of the vowels on changing the articulation of the consonants.
(‫ت‬٣‫اُؾب‬,251:2004)

However, it is noticed that 'AL-Kashkasha and AL-Kaskasa phenomenon ' is a phonetic phenomenon in
the language and it happens when sound /k/ tends to make its point of articulation like the point of
articulation of the front sounds when it is followed by kasrah which affects the velarized sound that
makes it a little forward in which this velarized sound changes into its counterpart velarized sound . 'AL-
Kashkasha' is like / ʧ/ in English word 'church' and 'AL-Kaskasa is like the German word (zhn) .Another
phenomenon of the impact of vowels on the consonants is the dark and clear ( ْ٤‫اُزلخ‬ٝ ‫ن‬٤‫ )اُزشه‬consonants
like /l/ and /r/ according to the accompanying vowels. The sound /l/ is dark when it comes after 'dhamma'
or 'fatha' especially in the name of 'Allah' and it is clear when it comes after 'kasrah' as in the following
examples : ‫ذ اهلل‬ٜ‫ؽ‬, ‫أخز اهلل‬, ‫سعَ اهلل‬

The sound [ r ] is also dark when it comes with 'fatha'and 'dhamma' and it is clear when it comes with
'kasrah'.All the "AL-Mustafala consonants" ( ‫ف أُغزلِخ‬ٝ‫ )اُذش‬are clear except the sound /l/ and it is dark in
the name of 'Allah' after 'fatha' and 'dhamma' but some believe that it can be dark after emphatic sounds
.In addition to that ,most believe that 'AL-Raa'a AL-Madhmooma or Maftooha ' can not be dark whereas
others believe that the 'quiescent raa'a' can not be dark .(ibid.:256)

B)The Impact of Consonants on Vowels

Consonants have an important influence on the adjacent vowels in which they change their point of
articulation to a way that corresponds with their natures .

A)The point of articulation of dhamma in ( ‫ ) ُٓذ‬is more front than in ( ‫ (جُذ‬but in ( ‫ )ػُذ‬it is more back than in
(‫ (جُذ‬.Likewise, kasrah in (ِٖٓ ) is more front than (‫ )جِذ‬which is more front than in (ٕ‫ )ا‬.Here,the impact is in
the point of articulation of the vowels.

B)Consonants have an influence not only on the point of articulation but also on the features of the
vowels.Fatha is dark after the emphatic sounds/ ṣ, , ẓ , ḍ / and it is between the darkness and lightness
with the sounds /q, x ,੪/ and it is clear with the rest of the sounds .Hence,fatha in (‫ ) فَجش‬is dark because it
is influenced by the emphatic sound / ṣ / and it is between the darkness and lightness in (‫ )هجَش‬and it is clear
in ( ‫ )عَجش‬.The long fatha is also dark when it is between the darkness and lightness in ( ّ‫ )هب‬and it is clear in
( ‫ )عبس‬. Thus,darkness( ْ٤‫ )اُزلخ‬with vowels is regarded as a contextual phenomenon which does not have a
function role in distinguishing between the words that have similar meanings and spellings ,so it is a
prosodic phenomenon rather than phonemic phenomenon. (ibid.:259)

c)Consonants affect vowels not only in their point of articulation and features but they may change the
vowel completely to another one which will correspond with their natures and features .It is commonly
found that fatha and kasrah in Arabic change into dhamma before the bilabial sounds as in :ِّ‫ أُّ→ ٳ‬,‫→ ُِت‬
‫ ُُت‬, ‫ظُلش → ظِلش‬

The emphatic sounds and the sounds/q, x ,੪/ tend to change fatha in order to make it back fatha or
dhamma ,i.e ,back close vowel or declensioned dhamma (‫ )اُضٔخ أُٔبُخ‬as in (‫ح‬ِٞ‫)اُق‬.

So,we can say that the adjacency of the emphatics to dhamma prevents it to bending and in this way it is
pronounced in more front way in which its point of articulation will be more close to the point of
articulation of kasrah .The features of these sounds are contrary to the features of kasrah and this is the
reason why these sounds can not be inclined because they are emphatics and they are raised towards the
soft palate whereas kasrah is clear and it is lowered towards the bottom of the mouth.

162
There are many reasons why inclination can not happen and the "AL-Huroof AL-Musta'aleea "( ‫ف‬ٝ‫اُذش‬
‫خ‬٤ِ‫)أُغزؼ‬can not be inclined because they are produced when the tongue is raised towards the soft palate
and the tongue must be lowered in the inclination which requires that fatha must be changed and the
emphatic sounds need that fatha keeps its original so, it is preferable to consider the origin .

d)The pharyngeal ,glottal and emphatic sounds tend to fatha more than kasrah and this is due that the
tongue moves backwards in the articulation of these sounds which need that oral cavity to be more wide
and in this way fatha is the most suitable soft (leen) sounds for them as in the following quranic verse:

(‫َش‬َٜ٘ ‫ٌْ ث‬٤ِ‫َٖ ( ) إٔ اهلل ٓجز‬َٛٝ ٠ِ‫ََ٘ب ػ‬َٛٝ ٚٓ‫ ا‬ٚ‫ت( )دِٔز‬٣‫اُؾب‬,263:2004)

E)When the third and fourth sound of the present tense /jafa'al/( َ‫لؼ‬٣) is one of the pharyngeal sounds
,these sounds must be with fatha,e.g: َ‫وشأ‬٣ , ًَٜ‫ق‬٣

F)Many of the words are formed when there is assimilation of the vowel (haraka) to the semi-consonants
that come after it ,e.g: ‫خ‬٤‫خ← خِل‬٤‫ خُل‬,‫خ‬٣‫خ← ِٓذ‬٣‫ ُٓذ‬,‫ح‬ٝ‫ح← عِش‬ٝ‫ عُش‬,‫ح‬ٝ‫ح← هِذ‬ٝ‫هُذ‬

G)Another vowel assimilation to the semi-consonants when there is third person pronoun /haaɁ / (ٜ) with
dhamma after the semi-consonant /j / and that dhamma must be changed to kasrah,e.g: ُْٜ٤ِ‫ِْ → ػ‬ٜ٤ِ‫ ػ‬,
ُٖٜ٤ِ‫ِٖ→ ػ‬ٜ٤ِ‫ػ‬

Actually there is no agreement upon putting dhamma or kasrah to the pronoun /h / (ٜ) when it is
preceded by /j / .Both of them are correct since the first means the original form and the second is used
by most of the linguists to make the articulation very easy (ibid.,:268).

3) Assimilation of the Vowels (Vowel Harmony)

‫خ‬٤‫( اُؼغ‬78:1983) indicates that Sibawayh calls this assimilation as 'AL-AtbaaɁ AL-Haraki' (٢ً‫)أالرجبع اُذش‬
because the vowels tend to assimilate to each other and according to modernists it is called vowel
harmony,e.g:

(ِٖ‫ ) ِٓ٘ز‬instead of (ٖ‫( )ٓ٘ز‬kasrah is followed by kasrah)

(‫ )أٗب اجؤى‬instead of (‫ئي‬٤‫( )أج‬kasrah is followed by kasrah)

(‫ى‬ٞ‫ )أٗجئ‬instead of (‫( )أٗجئي‬kasrah is followed by kasrah)

(ٕ‫( )اُغُُِغب‬dhamma is followed by dhamma)

(‫ ٓ٘ذذس‬ٞٛ) instead of (‫( )ٓ٘ذذِس‬dhamma is followed by dhamma)

‫ت‬٣‫(اُؾب‬241:2004) mentions two cases of the assimilation between the vowels :

1)Assimilation can be found in the adverb of time like ( ‫ ) ُُٓ٘ز‬.The original word of this adverb is :( ٝ‫ ر‬+ ِٖٓ )
,i.e ,it is composed of two words : preposition ( ِٖٓ ) + relative pronoun (ٝ‫ )ر‬in which both of them are
formed to produce ( ٝ‫ )ٓ٘ز‬.The last long vowel /w/ becomes short vowel (haraka) because of moving the
stress to the first syllable and it becomes (‫ )ْٓ٘ز‬and then by assimilation it becomes (‫ ) ُْٓ٘ز‬.

2)Another example can be found with third person pronoun /haaɁ / (ٚ) when kasrah is substituted by
dhamma like: ُِٚ‫ِ→ ث‬ِٚ‫ث‬

Here, assimilation occurs between haraka of the preposition and the pronoun because kasrah is followed
by dhamma which makes a difficulty in the pronunciation /h / (ٚ) .Thus, this assimilation can happen for
the whole third person pronouns (singular, plural , feminine,masculine,etc) whenever the pronoun is

163
preceded by kasrah or /j / . Dhamma is substituted by kasrah or /ay/ when it is found in accusative and
genitive pronoun (ٞٛ) ,masculine plural (ْٛ) ,feminine plural (ٖٛ) ,٠٘‫ٔب( أُض‬ٛ) like:ِ‫عييه‬, ٌ‫قاضيه‬, ‫سجيه‬

1.2.2 Dissimilation (‫ )أُخبُلخ‬in Arabic

Phoneticians look to dissimilation as an important and indispensable process because it aims to

reduce the differentiation between the sounds.‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬18:1975) defines dissimilation as " a process which is
used to differentiate between two similar sounds when they are found in a word . ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬257:1998)
clarifies that dissimilation is a process in which the sound is influenced by the adjacent sound and here it
is a reversal process to the assimilation process that leads to increase the differences between the two
sounds .Brosnahan assures that dissimilation occurs almost with the nasal and trilled sounds /m,n,l,r/ in
order to achieve an easy articulation and harmony in the spoken language .While prof. S. Hurwitz
mentions that some of the linguistic units which form the nasal and trilled sounds /m,n,l,r/ are part of
their structural frame and it may be this is the reason behind their ability to differentiate between the
similar sounds like:‫ حشجو→ حجو‬, ‫ جيَذ→ جَذ‬, ‫ عْنة→ عنة‬,‫ عشقة→ عقة‬, ‫ قشٍط → قَط‬,‫فيطح → فطح‬

Moreover, ‫ؾ‬٤‫( اُق‬Ibid.) mentions that Dr.Ahmed Mukhtar clarifies on one hand the process of
assimilation aims to facilitate the articulation of the sounds without taking into consideration the
semantic side which may be influenced when the two sounds approximate to each other.On the other
hand ,the dissimilation process is the reversal process which aims to facilitate the semantic side by
differentiating between the sounds without taking into consideration the articulation side which may be
influenced because of the differentiation between the sounds like the following examples:

)‫ جشفّش ← اىشْفيش (اىغيء اىخيق‬,)ٌ‫ جحذّط ← وجحْذط اىييو (أرا اظي‬, )ِ‫ اىشط← واىشٍظ (اىذف‬,)‫اىعثاط← واىعْثاط (االعذ‬

Thus,assimilation aims to approximate between the two adjacent sounds in which they assimilate to each
other ;whereas dissimilation aims to reduce the muscular effort in which one of similar adjacent sounds is
changed either to the long vowel or to the sound which is similar to it like /l,n/ .The following diagram
shows the two processes of assimilation and dissimilation .

‫اظتلم‬ /Ɂftaala/ ‫ظلم‬

/ ẓ / (voiced ,
/t/ (voiceless ,non
velarized ,plosive ) velarized ,fricative)

‫اظلم‬ ‫أنظلم‬
‫اظطلم‬

The second degree

of facility The first degree of The final degree
facility of transformation

Here,dissimilation happens when the sound / ẓ / is changed to the sound /n/ and this is due to the
difficulty that can be found in the articulation of the emphatic sounds and hence the dissimilation usually
occurs when there are two adjacent similar sounds which are either emphatic or fricative sounds.

164
 ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫ (أ‬168 : 1975) indicates that dissimilation occurs rarely between the

Plosive sounds like: ‫ط اٗجبؿ→ اجبط‬ٞ‫ط → دث‬ٞ‫ُؼٖ→ ُؼَ دٗج‬

And this is called contact dissimilation (‫ش أُخبُلخ‬٣‫)رـب‬.The speaker feels a difficulty in pronouncing between
the doubling of the sounds and the successive vowels. Hence, dissimilation occurs when there is a
doubling consonant because it is difficult when the tongue is raised and lowered in the articulation of the
doubling sounds as in : ‫ آِِذ‬٢‫ذ ك‬٤ِٓ‫ أ‬,‫ رغشسد‬٢‫ذ ك‬٣‫رغش‬

AL-Mubrad gives other examples in which kasrah in ( ‫دِٗبس‬,‫ )هِشاط‬is substituted by the sound /j / as in
( ‫شاط‬٤‫ه‬,‫٘بس‬٣‫ )د‬and when there is a separation between the doubling sounds ,it must belong to their origin
like: (‫ظ‬٣‫ هشاس‬, ‫ش‬٤ٗ‫َ ( )دٗب‬٤ِ‫ػجذ اُج‬,298:1998)

Here, ‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬169:1975) mentions examples about the doubling sounds in the word in which one of these
doubling sounds is substituted by a long soft (leen) sound either /j / or /w/ ,so the articulation will
become easy for the speaker :

‫َ) → ػظ‬٤ُِ‫كبٕ ا‬ٞ‫ط(ع‬ٞ‫ ػ‬, ‫ة (اُوغغ) → اُجت‬ٞ‫ اُج‬,‫اٗـظ(اٗـٔظ)→ ؿظ‬

Traditionalists feel a difficulty in articulating the doubling sounds and they tend to substitute them by one
of the vowel sounds because they are easy in the pronunciation and the tongue is difficult when it is
raised and returned to the same point to produce the same sound.

Another kind is called distant dissimilation ( ‫ )أُخبُلخ أُزجبػذح‬which occurs with the words that include two
similar sounds in which there is a sound that separates between them that is not similar to them ,e.g:

ٕ‫ب ثـذا‬ِٜ‫ثـذاد اف‬ ‫بد‬ٜ٤ٛ ‫ب‬ِٜ‫بد اف‬ٜ٣‫ ا‬, ‫ب اػؾجؾت‬ِٜ‫ؽت اف‬ٞ‫ اػؾ‬, ‫ب اخضشضش‬ِٜ‫ضش اف‬ٞ‫اخض‬

(َ٤ِ‫ػجذ اُج‬,298 :1998 )

In brief,‫ظ‬٤ٗ‫( أ‬172:1975) assures that dissimilation is a process which is used to differentiate between the
emphatic or friction sounds.It is rarely that dissimilation is used to differentiate between the two plosive
sounds or leen sounds because they are easy in the articulation even we can find such word like: → ‫اٗجبؿ‬
‫اجبؿ‬

1.3 Comparison of Assimilation in English and Arabic

It seems that the assimilation varies more in Arabic than in English . However, assimilation in both
languages can be summarized as follow:

1)The assimilation of consonants

a) Mainly, there are two major types of assimilation which are historical and contextual assimilation .Both
of them are found in English and Arabic language .Historical assimilation refers to the assimilation in
which the word has changed in the course of development of a language . Examples are given
respectively:

'ant' / ænt/→/ æmətə/→/æmtə/→/æmt/→/ænt/. ‫ُقذ← ُقظ← ُـ‬

While contextual assimilation is the most common than the historical assimilation and it means an
assimilation which is occasioned when words are juxtaposed in a sentence , or in the formation of
compounds and by which a word comes to have a pronunciation different from that which it has when
said by itself ,e.g, the change of /s/ to / ∫/ in

'horse shoe' → /ho:∫ ∫ u:/ (Ibid.). ُٕٞ‫زَغْبء‬٣‫ػٖ ٓب← ػَٔب‬ ‫أفزجش← أفغجش‬

165
b) Concerning the direction of assimilation process ,there are three types of assimilation :1)progressive
(left -to- right) 2)regressive (right –to- left) 3)reciprocal (both directions at once).All of them can be found
in both languages but the regressive assimilation is the most common than others in both
languages.Examples are given respectively for both languages:

bags/bægz/ , right place /raip pleis/ , did you?/diʤu:/

‫ أصربد← أصداد‬, ‫ش‬ٜ‫ش← اع‬ٜ‫غ‬٣ ←‫ش‬ٜ‫زغ‬٣ ,ٍ‫صُض‬

c)Unlike English ,there are two major kinds of assimilation in Arabic language and they are classified
according to the ancients and they are called the big and small assimilation. These two kinds are not
found in English since the latter lacks harakat ,i.e, fatha ,kasrah,dhamma and assimilation happens in a
condition that these harakat must be involved .Thus, assimilation happens in the first kind when the first
sound of the two assimilated sounds is a movent whereas the second one happens when the first sound
is a quiescent.Examples are given respectively:

‫كثْذ ًب‬
َ ‫بد‬٣‫ َاُْؼبَد‬ٝ ,ٌّْْٗ‫ذ‬٣‫آَرْ دأرْٕ سَثٌْْْ َُئْٖ ؽٌَشْرْْ الْص‬ٝ

d) There are two types of assimilation which are classified according to another mode of classification :
total and partial assimilation . Actually , there is no clear evidence that these categories can happen only
for consonants and thus it may also happen for vowels.In both languages , complete assimilation
happens between two identical sounds which have participating features in which the assimilated sound
becomes similar to the influencing sound like in the following examples : /ðæt pleis/ →/ðæp pleis/ ‫سثغذ‬
& → ّ‫سثظ‬

whereas partial assimilation happens between two close or approximate sounds in which the
assimilated sound becomes only more similar to the influencing sound like in the following examples:

/ten baiks/ →/tembaiks/ & ‫كضد →كضد كذقظ→ كذقذ‬

e)Concerning the minor categories of assimilation ,there are four phonemic variations in English
language :voice(fortis vs. lenis ( ‫ٔظ‬ُٜ‫ا‬ٝ ‫ش‬ٜ‫) )اُج‬, place of articulation , manner of articulation(plosion and
friction ( ‫ح‬ٝ‫اُشخب‬ٝ ‫ ) )اُؾذح‬and nasality (vocal tract transition ( ‫د‬ٞ‫ اُق‬ٟ‫)) اٗزوبٍ ٓجش‬. In addition to the above
kinds , Arabic has another variation which is not found in English and it is called velarization and non-
velarization ( ‫االٗلزبح‬ٝ ‫عجبم‬٥‫)ا‬.Besides, in Arabic ,there is no voiced sound adjacent to its counterpart
voiceless sound like /d/ and /t/ , /z/ and /s/, etc. otherwise one of the two sounds must be changed to
the other sound in which both of the two sounds must be either voiced or voiceless sounds.Examples are
given respectively in both languages: with thanks /wið Ѳæηks/ / wiѲ Ѳæηks/

/ ∫/ replaces /s/ before / ∫,j/ ,e.g: this shirt /ði∫ ∫ ɜ:t/

That side /ðæt said/→ / ðæs said/

'good news' /gun nju:z/

‫أررٌش←أردًش‬ , ‫ؾئزٔب‬٤‫ د‬.. ← َ‫ػْزُٔب‬

‫س ئ‬
ُ ْ٢َ‫كٌٌالًَ َْٖٓ د‬

‫عذ‬ ← ‫)عذط( ← عذد‬, ٖ‫ أسًت ٓؼ٘ب← أسًٔؼ‬, ‫أفزجش← أفغجش‬

F)It is noticed that in Arabic assimilation occurs between two kinds of the sounds ,i.e, similar
assimilation ( ٖ٤ِ‫ أُض‬ٝ‫ٖ ا‬٤ِ‫ ) ادؿبّ أُزٔبص‬and approximate sounds. Actually, assimilation of the first kind is not
found in English since the assimilated sound which is formed through the assimilation process is a
geminated sound ,i.e,two sounds becme as one sound ,besides,the occurrence of assimilation depends
on the inflections (harakat) while the second one can be found in both languages.However, in

166
Arabic,there are six cases that happens between similar sounds that have the same point of articulation
and features of the sounds ,i.e, manner of articulation ,voice ,and movement of the tongue .

These six cases can be summarized as follows :

1) Assimilation can happen whenever there is a movent sound before or after the quiescent sound .

2)It can not happen in one word or two words whenever there is a quiescent sound before the two similar
sounds and it can be substituted by the hidden case in which the sound is articulated without germination
,i.e,the articulation is between the assimilation and manifestation.

3)The two similar sounds are substituted by a third sound to avoid difficulty in articulation and this case
happened with pharyngeal sounds only.

Concerning the assimilation of the approximate sounds,it is usually happened between the sounds which
have a close point of articulation and features of these sounds. One important thing should be mentioned
here is that the major reason behind the impossibility of the assimilation according to Sibawayh is that
each sound has a feature which is regarded as a minor part of the basic sound and this minor feature will
vanish as far as the basic sound assimilated with its approximate sounds like the trill feature in the sound
/r/ ,spread feature in the sound /f/ ,etc..In addition,the researcher tries to state the differences and
similarities of the approximate sounds assimilation between the two languages but unfortunately these
sounds are not explained in detail in English like in Arabic except some sounds like the bilabial ,velar
,palatal ,alveolar . However, the assimilation of the approximate sounds in English may summarize as
follows :
1)voice feature :it can be represented in the following patterns :
a)progressive assimilation vless.→vd. ,
b)regressive assimilation vless.← vd.
2)place of articulation
it is the regressive assimilation which can be happened in the place of articulation when the alveolar
sound is changed into bilabial, velar and palatal-alveolar sounds/ ʤ, ʧ / sound if the alveolar sound is
followed either by bilabial ,velar or palato-alveolar and palatal sounds / ∫,j/.It can be represented as
follows:
bilabial ,velar ,palatal-alveolars← alveolars

3)manner of articulation
It seems that it is the reciprocal assimilation which happens when the alveolar sound is changed into
palatal-alveolar sound if it is followed by alveolar and palatal sound .It can be represented as follows:
alveolars ↔ palatal-alveolars(regressive and progressive )
4)Nasality feature :it can be represented as follows:
nasal ← alveolar (regressive)
plosive or nasal → dental (progressive)

Gradually ,the following table summarizes the assimilation of the approximate sounds in Arabic as they
are classified according to Sibawayh .

Table(2) The assimilation of the approximate sounds in Arabic

167
 The Assimilation with other sounds Assimilation of
Sounds Other sounds with
each one

1 /a/ (‫)ا‬
soft
Prolongation

Sounds /j/(١)
and

/w/(ٝ)

2 /h/(ٛ) / ħ/

/ ħ/(‫)ح‬ /h/ /ᶜ/

/ ᶜ /(‫)ع‬ / ħ, h /
Pharyngeal Sounds

/੪ / (‫)ؽ‬ /x/

/ a/(‫)ا‬

/ Ɂ/ (‫)ء‬

3 /q/(‫)م‬ /k/ /k/

Sounds
Uvular

/k/(‫)ى‬ /q/ /q/

4 / ʤ/(‫)ط‬ / / /t,d, ð/

/∫ /(‫)ػ‬ / ʤ,d, Ѳ ,t,s/

Orificial
sounds

/j/(١)

5 /l/(ٍ) /r/
Liquids or
tippy sounds

/r/(‫)س‬ /l,n/

6 // ∫, ð , ṣ,d,n, ẓ ,, ḍ,s,z, Ѳ,t,r/ /d, Ɂ ,h,j,k,m, w, l,f,

q,b, ʤ, ħ , x , ੪, ᶜ /
Definite

''ٍ‫' ٱ‬/?al/
article

7 /b/(‫)ة‬ /f,m/ /f/

Bilabial and
Labiodental

/f/(‫)ف‬ /b/ /b/

Sounds

/m/(ّ) /b/

8 / /(‫)ط‬ / Ѳ, ṣ / /d,t/
Lateral
sounds
Tippy

/t /(‫)د‬ /d,Ѳ , ʤ, ḍ,s, ṣ ,z, ð , , ḍ / /d, ð/

and

168
 /d/(‫)د‬ /∫, ð , ṣ, ẓ ,, ḍ,s, Ѳ,t, ʤ / /t/

9 ṣ/(‫)ؿ‬ /s,t/ /s,z,  ,d, ð/

Z(‫)ص‬ / ṣ ,s,t/ /s,t, ð/

Sounds
Apical

S(‫)ط‬ / ṣ ,∫ ,t / /d , Ѳ , ð/

10 / Ѳ /(‫)س‬ / ∫, ḍ .s/ / ẓ , ð ,t,d/

/ð/(‫)ر‬ / ẓ ,Ѳ ,t,d,s,z, ʤ / /t,d/

Dental sounds

/ ẓ /(‫)ػ‬ /Ѳ / /ð/

11. /ḍ /(‫)ك‬ /t/ /Ѳ/

Mustatt

sound
AL-

eel

Moreover, the cases of the sound /n/(ٕ) and tanween and the sound /m/ when they assimilate with
other sounds are as follows:

1)The quiescent /n/ and tanween are hidden and they are produced through the nasal chambers when
they are adjacent with the fifteen oral sounds / q,k, ʤ, ∫,s,z,ḍ ,ṣ,ẓ,d,f,t, Ѳ, ð /.Concerning the sound /m/ ,
it is hidden when it came before the sound /b/ when produced with nasalization (ghunna).In English ,it is
the sound /b/ which is not produced when it comes after the sound /m/ to avoid difficulty in
pronunciation since both of them are voiced and bilabial like in 'lamb' which pronounced as /læm/

2)The oral sound is produced with nasalization (ghunna) when the sound /n/ is adjacent to the sounds
/w,j/.They are called nasalized sounds and this case can be found also in English in which the air can pass
through both the nose and mouth as the sound became nasalized sound when it is followed by the nasal
sound like calm /kæl/

3)The oral sound is produced with or without nasalization (ghunna) when the quiescent/n/ and tanween
are adjacent to the sounds /r,l/

4)The sound /n/ and tanween are produced with a lengthening geminated sound when they are
adjacent to the sound /n/. The same thing can happen with the sound/m/ .

5)The sound /n/ is a manifest when it is adjacent with the pharyngeal sounds.Concerning the sound /m/ ,
it must be manifested when it is adjacent to the other sounds especially the two sounds /w,f/ .

6)The sound /n/ and tanween are inverted to the sound /m/ when they come before the sound /b/ and
here it will be produced without ghunna but they are produced with nasalization (ghunna) when they are
adjacent to the sound /m/ .

2)The assimilation of Vowels and Consonants

A)The consonants in both languages can be influenced by the adjacent vowels whose features can extend
onto a consonant as secondary modifications.Two phenomena are found in English and they are called '
Palatalization' and ' labialization' whereas in Arabic only the first one can be found. Actually ,the
Palatalization means that the tongue position of a front vowel is superimposed on an adjacent consonant
like (electric ,electricity) and in Arabic,this case can be found as the dental and velarized sounds
influenced by the neighboring vowels,e.g , the sounds /k/ and /g/ are uvular when they are adjacent to

169
'dhamma' /u/ or 'declensioned fatha '/e/ and more velar with kasrah and it will be moderate with
fatha.In labialization ,the lip position of a rounded vowel induces a secondary articulation onto the
consonant.Moreover, It has been shown that English has clear /l/ when it comes before a vowel and
dark/l/ when it comes after a vowel ,before the consonants ,and in final position . In Arabic, there is also
dark /l/ when it comes after 'dhamma' or 'fatha' especially in the name of 'Allah' and it is clear when it
comes after 'kasrah'.The sound /r/ is also dark when it comes with 'fatha'and 'dhamma' and it is clear
when it comes with 'kasrah' but in English ,there is no dark and clear /r/.

B)The vowels are influenced by the neighboring consonants in both languages .In English ,the vowel is
completely changed into another one like :/ʧildrən/ → /ʧuldrən/

whereas in Arabic ,it is found that the consonants can affect the vowels in the following features :

1)point of the articulation like dhamma in (‫ ) ُٓذ‬is more front than in (‫(جُذ‬

2) fatha is dark after the emphatic sounds / / ṣ, , ẓ , ḍ / and it is between the darkness and lightness
with the sounds /q, x ,੪/ and it is light (clear) with the rest of the sounds .

3) the vowel may change completely into another vowel like ‫ظُلش → ظِلش‬

4) the pharyngeal ,glottal ,and emphatic sounds tend to the fatha like

ََٖٛٝ ٠ِ‫ََ٘ب ػ‬َٛٝ ٚٓ‫ ا‬ٚ‫)دِٔز‬

5) When the third and fourth sound of the present tense /jafa'al/( َ‫لؼ‬٣) is one of the pharyngeal sounds
,these sounds must be with fatha,e.g: َ‫وشأ‬٣ , ًَٜ‫ق‬٣

6)The vowel follows the semi-consonant that comes after it like ‫ح‬ٝ‫ح← عِش‬ٝ‫عُش‬

7)Third person pronoun /h / (ٜ) with dhamma is changed to kasrah when it is preceded by /j / like : ُٖٜ٤ِ‫ػ‬
→ِٖٜ٤ِ‫ػ‬

3)The assimilation of vowels(vowel harmony) :The vowel is influenced by another vowel in both languages
like :

'we are ' /wiə/ .Here, /i:/ is replaced by /i/ under the influence of /ə /.ُِٚ‫ِ→ ث‬ِٚ‫ث‬

3)Dissimilation is a process that can be found in both English and Arabic language and it is the opposite
of assimilation process. Actually ,both assimilation and dissimilation aim to reduce the muscular effort
that makes the articulation process more easily but the first one aims to approximate between the two
sounds whereas the second one aims to differentiate between the two sounds especially the
trilled,emphatic and fricative sounds .Gradually, contact and distant dissimilation can be found as the first
one (‫ش أُخبُلخ‬٣‫ )رـب‬aims to differentiate between the two similar sounds like ( ‫ رغشسد‬٢‫ذ ك‬٣‫) رغش‬whereas the
second one (‫ )أُخبُلخ أُزجبػذح‬aims to change the sound that separates between the two similar which is not
similar to them into a similar sound to them like )‫ضش‬ٞ‫ب اخضشضش اخض‬ِٜ‫) اف‬.Finally,in English ,it is found
that dissimilation process can happen only for consonants whereas in Arabic,this process can happen for
both the consonants and vowels.

Conclusions
In the light of the previous explanation of both English and Arabic assimilation , the researcher may
summarize the findings as follows:
1)The term 'assimilation' in English is not exactly equivalent to the Arabic term 'idgham' even though it is
the most commonly used approximation and 'AL-Mummathala'.Besides,the terms like 'AL-Mummathala'

170
and 'AL-Mudharaa' may refer to the term germination since assimilation is regarded as one form of
doubling sounds..

2)Generally speaking ,assimilation is a process which happens in both languages for both the vowels and
consonants in which both of them can influence each other or each one can be affected by itself.
Consonant assimilation is more common than vowel assimilation

3) Concerning the assimilation of the consonants and vowels ,it can be summarized as follows:

a)The historical and contextual assimilation are two main types which happen in both languages and the
second one is found more commonly than the other.Besides,according to the traditionalists ,there are
other two main types of assimilation which are found in Arabic not in English and they are called the big
and small assimilation.The English language lacks these two kind of assimilation since it lacks inflections
(harakat).

b)Total and partial assimilation are two types of assimilation which are found in both languages for both
the consonants and vowels .Besides , there are four minor phonemic types which are voice(fortis vs. lenis
(‫ٔظ‬ُٜ‫ا‬ٝ ‫ش‬ٜ‫) )اُج‬, place of articulation , manner of articulation(plosion and friction (‫ح‬ٝ‫اُشخب‬ٝ ‫ ) )اُؾذح‬and
nasality (vocal tract transition (‫د‬ٞ‫ اُق‬ٟ‫) اٗزوبٍ ٓجش‬. All these kinds are found in both languages except the
category velarization and non-velarization (‫االٗلزبح‬ٝ ‫عجبم‬٥‫ )ا‬which is found only in Arabic not in English .It is
important to mention that in Arabic ,there is no voiced sound adjacent to its counterpart voiceless sound
otherwise ;one of the two sounds must be changed to the other sound in which case sounds must be
either voiced or voiceless sounds.

c)Progressive ,regressive, and reciprocal assimilation are three kinds which are concerned with
determining the direction of the assimilation process and they are found in both languages.

d)Assimilation can happen between two kinds of the sounds which are similar and approximate
sounds.The first kind is found only in Arabic language because the result is a geminated sound which is
not found in English whereas the second one is found in both languages. Besides ,other processes can
happen in Arabic between the two similar sounds like hidden or substitution if the assimilation can not be
happened. Concerning the approximate sounds, according to Sibawayh, the assimilation can not happen
with some sounds that have features which are a basic part of them and they will be lost in the
assimilation process.

e) There are many cases of the quiescent /n/ and tanween .It is found that the nasalized case which
happens with the sound /n/ is the only one found in both languages .Besides ,concerning the case of /m/
assimilation , the hidden case in both languages will happen with the sound /m/ when it comes before
the sound /b/ as follows:

1-In Arabic,the sound /m/ is hidden

2-In English ,it is the sound /b/ which is hidden and the sound /m/ must be produced

However,other cases like the geminated ,manifestation ,and inverted cases are found only in Arabic not
in English .

f)Concerning the assimilation of vowels and consonants ,It is found that the consonants are influenced by
the neighboring vowels in both languages and vice versa .However, there are two major phenomena
which are palatalization and labialization in which the former is found in both languages whereas the

171
latter is found only in English. Actually, there is no clear evidence about the labialization case and
whether it is found or not in Arabic because there are some examples about this case but even this case
is not mentioned directly in Arabic references like the clear and dark /l/ and /r/ . However, clear and dark
/l / and /r/ can be found in Arabic language whereas only the first one ,i.e, clear and dark /l / is found in
English.In addition,the vowels are also influenced by the consonants in both languages and it is noticed
that Arabic cases are more varied than English cases like changes in some of the features and sometimes
the vowel is completely changed.

g)The vowels are influenced by other vowels in both languages .This is called vowel harmony.

4)In both languages, dissimilation is a reverse process to assimilation process despite both of them
make the articulation process more easily since the first one aims to approximate the two sounds
whereas the second one aims to differentiate between the two difficult sounds. However, in English
,dissimilation can happen only in consonants whereas in Arabic this process can happen for both the
consonants and vowels .Moreover, dissimilation is subdivided into contact dissimilation ( ‫ )تغاير المخالفت‬and
distant dissimilation ( ‫ )المخالفت المتباعذة‬in which the first one differentiates between the two similar sounds
whereas the second one changes the sound that occurs between the two similar sounds into one that is
similar to them.

References

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Deshpande L.S. an, Dharamsi P.H. and Digole D.P.(2007) .The Phonology of English and
Spoken English .India:Creative Phonology.
Gimson,A.C. (1970). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English.London: Edward
Arnold Ltd.
Jones, Daniel. (1972). Outline of English Phonetics. Cambridge: W. Heffer.
Lass,R. (1984) .Phonology .Cambridge :Cambridge University press.
Malmberg ,B. (1963) .Phonetics .London:Inc.
O'Conner, J.D. (1980). Better English Pronunciation.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Roach ,Peter.(2002).Phonetics and phonology .Cambridge :Cambridge University Press.
Schane,Sanford A. (1973) .Generative Phonology .London:Inc.
Trask ,R.,L .(1996).Language :The Basics .Britian:T.J .International Ltd.
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