Dissimilation

Dissimilation is a phonological process where one sound in a word becomes less similar to a neighboring sound, usually in the interest of easier pronunciation or phonetic distinction. It's a change in pronunciation that avoids repetition or makes words more distinct, often altering consonants, but sometimes vowels. It's driven by ease of articulation and can be a historical development in a language, or a current, active process influenced by speech communities and language change over time. This can affect spelling in some languages.

Dissimilation meaning with examples

• In Latin, the word "*sēdecim*" (sixteen) evolved into "*sedecim*" by the process of dissimilation; the first *s* was dropped in the first syllable due to the presence of a second *s* sound later on in the word. This shows how speakers sought to make the word easier to say by removing some similarity to another sound to make it distinct. This makes the word easier to understand.
• Consider the word "*colonel*" (historically pronounced with two l sounds). The pronunciation evolved through dissimilation, with the second 'l' being replaced by an 'r' sound. This may be due to the initial sounds in the word influencing the later consonant sound, with the dissimilation creating a contrast instead of similar sounds, which would have made it more difficult for the tongue to articulate each syllable in this word.
• Some dialects of English show dissimilation when pronouncing "*purple*" or "*turkey*" with some variants of r and l sounds, which would be similar otherwise. This illustrates a shift in phonemes that has evolved over time, and differs greatly in pronunciations between regional accents that makes one sound different from the other.
• A modern example is the tendency for some speakers to alter "*February*" to "*Febuary*", or "*library*" to "*libary*", where the 'r' is dropped. It shows speakers adapting sound structures for simpler articulation. This change may show how easier articulation will change sound within the language over time, as one sound replaces a more similar one.