What is the difference between metathesis and assimilation?

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What is the difference between metathesis and assimilation?

Metathesis and assimilation are both phonological processes that occur in language, but they involve different types of sound changes.

Metathesis refers to the rearrangement or switching of sounds within a word. It involves the transposition of two adjacent sounds or syllables. This process can occur due to various factors such as ease of pronunciation or phonetic similarity. For example, in English, the word "ask" was historically pronounced as "aks" due to metathesis.

Assimilation, on the other hand, involves the influence of one sound on another sound in close proximity. It occurs when a sound becomes more similar to a neighboring sound, either in terms of place of articulation, manner of articulation, or voicing. This process can be motivated by ease of articulation or the desire for sounds to become more similar to each other. For instance, in English, the word "impossible" is often pronounced as "impossibl" with the final "e" being assimilated to the preceding "l" sound.

In summary, metathesis involves the rearrangement of sounds within a word, while assimilation involves the modification of a sound to become more similar to a neighboring sound. Both processes play a significant role in shaping the phonetic and phonological patterns of languages.