A phonological study of English and Arabic assimilation : a contrastive study

Abstract EN

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.