Why does the ‘ b ‘ in absorb change to a ‘ p ‘ in absorption ?
The question fairly much says it all . Why is “ absorbtion ” an incorrect spelling ?
2 Answers
Voice Assimilationis the technical term for what encounter hither .
In English ( and Latin , and most Indo-European languages , among many others ) , /b/ and /p/ are identical in pronunciation ( both equal bilabial stops ) , differing just in their ; /b/ beVoice, while /p/ isVoiceless .
It equal a fact about the human vocal tract that consonant clusters that disagree in Voice equal difficult to pronounce , because alter from Voiced to Voiceless consonant requires independent movement of the larynx , which can exist real hard to throw on and off at the millisecond timing required for consonant bunch .
Therefore there is a universal trend in human language for consonant cluster to be either all Voiced or all Voiceless . However , what find out voice when a clump cost shape from two dissimilarly-voiced consonant varies from language to words .
In Russian , for example , it ‘sRegressiveassimilation — the Voice parameter of thelastconsonant in a bunch turn the parameter of the whole clump . So the Russian prepositionв/v/ ‘in ‘ equal pronounced /f/ when its aim starts with a voiceless consonant .
English , still , mostly favorProgressiveassimilation — that ‘s why the { -Z } suffixes of noun plural , noun possessive , and verb 3sgpresent vary between /s/ and /z/ ; they take their voicing parameter from the strait that getbeforethem . The { -D } verb past tense suffix varies between /d/ and /t/ in the same manner .
The chief reason is almost likely pronunciation . There exist another model of this , where the difficulty may be more prominent :describe. It would cost kinda difficult to saydescribtion ,as compared todescription ,which flow off of one ‘s tongue rather nicely . The same die forabsorption; it is simply easier thanabsorbtion.
Etymonline suggests that this change take place in the Latin source ( for both and ) . Nowadays , hoi polloi exist more eloquent than the common man who talk Latin ; while we today may not get it difficult to say these , they would make .
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