Place and manner assimilation in Catalan consonant clusters

Copyright © International Phonetic Association 2015Â. Electropalatographic data on the frequency of occurrence of assimilatory processes in Catalan C1##C2 sequences, where ## is inserted at the boundary between two consecutive words, reveal that regressive place assimilations operate more often on C1 = /n/ than on C1 = /t/ and are triggered by /g/ rather than by the labials /p b m/ and the voiceless velar stop /k/. Regressive manner assimilations involving nasality and laterality are facilitated by homorganicity between the two consecutive consonants and thus apply more frequently in the clusters /pm tn tl tl ty/, where C1 and C2 share the same labial or dentoalveolar place of articulation, than in the sequences /pn tm km kn/, where the two consonants are heterorganic; on the other hand, /k/ is less prone than /p t/ to become nasal when followed by /m n/. Place assimilatory processes apply more often for some speakers than for others, and their frequency of occurrence increases whenever C1 is embedded in a frequent or function word. The articulatory motivation for some of these place and manner assimilatory processes, and the extent to which they are complete or partial, are also investigated.