/ðæs saɪd/ versus /ɡʊb bɔɪ/ - Assimilation of place versus manner

Question

Good day I am facing a problem to distinguish between assimilation of place and assimilation of manner So in Peter R's book he said that (AOM) is much less noticeable, and he provided examples which is:

1- That side /ðæs saɪd/

2- Good night /ɡʊn naɪt/

For Assimilation of place (AOP) brought up examples which is, for me, similar to AOM :

1- Good boy /ɡʊb bɔɪ/

2- this shoe / ðɪʃ ʃuː/

3- get those /ɡeð ðəʊz/

As you can see, in these two examples (good night, good boy) they are similar, and what is the reason to classify (that side) as Assimilation of manner? . I think we can classify it as assimilation of place too.

Please giude me and help me. Many thanks

Answer 1

It is questionable whether there is such a thing as "assimilation of manner" in the same sense that there is assimilation of place. Assimilation of place traditionally refers to wholesale shift in POA as represented in the IPA charts, to t → p, p → k and so on: columns of cells identify a "place". "Manner" cross-classifies rows including nasality, continuance, sonorance and other features. An assimilation of manner would be where t → θ before all fricatives, → n before all nasals, and so on, likewise changes of p, d, z (→ d before all stops, → dz before all affricates). A language can certainly have partial assimilation of one feature: the question is whether there is ever a case of assimilation of all manner features?

The examples ts → ss, dn → nn are not clear cases, in fact they are completely ambiguous in that they could simply be total assimilation (all features). Typological research has revealed ample evidence for cases of place assimilation, and laryngeal assimilation, as well as total assimilation, and no evidence for manner assimilation. This is the foundation of the conclusion that "manner" is not actually a constituent in phonological feature structure.

Since there is no such thing as general manner assimilation in languages (distinct from single-feature "nasalization" e.g.), you'd have to understand the concept in hypothetical terms. For example, the following collection of changes:

{p → ɸ / _{s,ɸ,ɣ}

θ → t̪ / _{p,b,k,q,ɗ}

s → n / _{m,n,ŋ},

t → ts / _{pf,t̪θ,ts,kx,qχ}}

If you encounter something like that, you have found assimilation of manner. If you find complete assimilation, that is simply the extension of assimilation of place and laryngeal features to cover all features, and thus not specifically "assimilation of manner".

Answer 2

In good boy, /ɡʊb bɔɪ/, we see that the last consonant of good has become a /b/. In isolation the last consonant of good would be a /d/. If we give these two phonemes their Voice Place Manner labels, /d/ would be a ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴅᴇɴᴛᴀʟ ᴘʟᴏsɪᴠᴇ and /b/ would be a ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇᴅ ʙɪʟᴀʙɪᴀʟ ᴘʟᴏsɪᴠᴇ. So we can see that whilst the last consonant of good is still voiced and still plosive, its place of articulation has changed. Instead of being alveolar and made with the tongue making a complete closure with the alveolar ridge (that little shelf behind your top teeth) for a [d], it is now bilabial and made with the closure at the lips, giving us a [b].

In terms of that side, both /t/ and /s/ are made by the tongue making a stricture at the alveolar ridge. So when we consider a /t/ becoming an /s/, the place of articulation is judged not to have changed. The Voice Place Manner labels for [t] and [s] are ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇʟᴇss ᴀʟᴠᴇᴏʟᴀʀ ᴘʟᴏsɪᴠᴇ and ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇʟᴇss ᴀʟᴠᴇᴏʟᴀʀ ғʀɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ, respectively. So we can see that whilst [t] is both voiceless and alveolar, it is plosive; it involves a complete closure in the vocal tract behind which the air coming up from the lungs compresses before it is released. In contrast, with [s] there is no complete obstruction of the air leaving the vocal tract. Instead we have a narrow stricture through which the air escapes, namely a channel down the mid-saggital line of the tongue. The narrowness of the stricture causes audible turbulence as the air passes through it, thus making this sound fricative. So, as described, there is a difference of manner, but not of voicing or place.