| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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7. Pronunciation Challenges: Confusions and Controversy
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| § 14. anesthetist |
The pronunciation ( -n s´t -tst) is an example of assimilation, a phonological process that involves one sound being influenced by another sound, usually a following sound, so that the sounds become more alike or identical. In the case of anesthetist, the (th) becomes (t) by assimilating to the following (t), with the result that the sound segment (t) occurs twice. In careful speech the word should properly be pronounced (-ns´th-tst). | 1 |
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assimilation. | 2 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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