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Dissimilation and haplology are two terms that are used in phonetics and in historical (or diachronic) linguistics to describe some processes where sounds changed, becoming more different from each other. An example is the diachronic process of the Latin word computare , which had the following process in Spanish: computare → cuémpetet → cómpetent → cuntar → count.
what is dissimilation
The term dissimilation comes from the Latin prefix dis- which means “distance” and the words simulare or similis which mean “similar”. Therefore, it can be translated as “distance from a resemblance”.
Dissimilation is a process where one part of the word “distances” from another, that is, it becomes more different. In dissimilation, one or more sounds in the word are altered or removed. This usually occurs with consonant sounds. Unlike assimilation, which happens when sounds are similar to nearby ones, dissimilation occurs when two similar sounds are switched for some reason, whether they sound bad, are repetitive, or are difficult to pronounce.
Dissimilation is very common in Latin and languages derived from this language. This process is studied within historical linguistics and etymology, since it is a construction or evolution that takes place over time and results in the words we use today. The causes of dissimilation are related to the speaker’s need to search for sounds that can be pronounced more easily.
examples of dissimilation
Most cases of dissimilation occur with the sounds /r/, /l/, /m/, and /n/. Some examples are:
- Arborem (Latin) → arbor → tree.
- Formosum (Latin) → beautiful → beautiful.
Another common example of dissimilation is the Latin suffix -alis , from which the suffix –al derives , which is part of adjectives such as “vital”, “antiviral”, “boreal”, “fatal”, “visceral”, etc. When this suffix was added to roots that already had an “l”, such as in the word exemplaris, it was dissimilated and became “r”. This gave rise to the suffix -aris , and later, to the suffix -ar , with which we obtain words like “exemplary”, “auxiliary”, “regular”, “nuclear”, “familiar”, etc.
Dissimilation is also quite common in English. The most common examples are:
- When the sound /r/ appears before another consonantal sound in the middle of a word, it is omitted in the pronunciation. This is the case of words like:
- Comfortable / «comfortable» → comfotable
- Berserk / “crazy” → besek
- Particular / “particular” → paticular
- Governor / «governor» → governor
What is haplology
The word haplology derives from the Greek haplóos , which means “simple” and logos , which means “word” or “speech”. That is, it is a simplification of the pronunciation of a word.
Haplology is a type of dissimilation that consists of the elimination of similar sounds or phonemes within a word. This occurs when there are two syllables that have similar sounds. For example: impossibility → impossibility.
The equivalent process in writing, in which a letter that would have to be repeated is omitted, is known as haplography.
Generally, cases of haplology are considered as language vices and can make communication difficult.
Examples of haplology
Some common examples of haplology in Spanish are:
- Browed → Browed
- impudence → impudence
- palelepiped → parallelepiped
- legality → legality
- paralysis → paralis
- program → program
- stepmother → stepmother
- vice versa → vice versa
- gangrene → gangrene
- pilgrim → pilgrim
- Gabriel → Gabriel
In English, some examples of haplology are:
- Engla land (Old English) → Engle lond → England / «England»
- Library → libry / «library»
- Probably → probably / «probably»
February → febur y/ «febrero» - Urine analysis → urinalysis / «urinalysis»
Bibliography
- Various authors. Introduction to Linguistics. (2016). Spain. Akal Editions.
- Padilla García, X. The pronunciation of Spanish: Phonetics and language teaching . (2015). Spain. Publications of the University of Alicante.
- Various authors. English pronunciation . (2020). Spain. Vaughan.
- Ortografias.com. Examples of haplology . https://www.ortografias.com/2018/01/ejemplos-de-haplologia.html
