ASSIMILATION OF SOUNDS IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE: A CASE STUDY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT KARABUK REGION (TURKEY)

Abstract

Assimilation of sounds is an interesting aspect of communication among speakers of the mother tongue. Mastering assimilation is significant to understanding the daily conversations while communicating, particularly with the increasing number of international students as well as the refugees in Turkey. Thus, researching assimilation and how native Turkish speakers talk have become a necessity. Therefore, this study aims at analyzing consonant assimilation among high school Turkish students. The qualitative data were obtained from eleven voluntary female students who were selected randomly from the 9th, 10th, 11th , and 12th grades of IMKB Multi/Program High School in Karabuk, Turkey. The findings show that there are fourteen assimilated sounds that we observed during the conversations. The number of progressive assimilations that we found in our study is limited. Most of the assimilated sounds observed in this study are made up of regressive assimilation. These findings could be pedagogically employed because understanding the consonant changes resulting from assimilation will improve foreigners’ communication skills and ease their adaptation to the Turkish society.