Partial assimilation vs. total assimilation
Revision as of 16:37, 6 September 2008 by Haspelmath (talk | contribs) (New page: An assimilation is '''total''' assimilation if the assimilated sound adopts all the phonetic features of another sound and becomes identical to it (e.g. Latin ''se'''p'''tem'' 'seven' ...)
An assimilation is total assimilation if the assimilated sound adopts all the phonetic features of another sound and becomes identical to it (e.g. Latin septem 'seven' > Italian sette). An assimilation is partial if the assimilated sound retains at least one of its original phonetic features and adopts only some of the phonetic features of another sound. (Thus, Old English efn 'even' > West-Saxon emn.)