What is the impact of assimilation on speech sounds?

The impact of assimilation on speech sounds is that they change due to nearby sounds. Assimilation is a linguistic phenomenon where a phoneme becomes more like a neighboring sound in terms of its articulatory or acoustic properties. This process often occurs in spoken language, where the influence of adjacent sounds can lead to variations in pronunciation. For example, in rapid speech, the /n/ sound in "input" may become more like the following /p/ sound, producing a more nasalized quality. This reflects the natural adaptation of speech to the phonetic environment, enabling smoother and faster communication.

In contrast, speech sounds do not remain unchanged because assimilation specifically involves alteration. Additionally, speech sounds do not become more distinct through assimilation; instead, they may blend or modify to reflect the influence of adjacent sounds. Similarly, while new words can form through various linguistic processes, assimilation itself is primarily concerned with sound change rather than word formation. Thus, the essence of assimilation lies in the changes that occur in sounds due to their phonetic context.