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Glite Dictionary
🔀 To make less alike 🔤 To change sounds
to dissimilate

to dissimilate

9.9
Become less similar in sound to make words easier to say
  • verb
  • /ˌdɪsɪˈmɪleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : diferenciarse
  • Phonologists have observed that the two 'r' sounds in 'February' often dissimilate.

Examples

  • In some dialects, certain consonants dissimilate over time to reduce similarity.

  • When placed together, linguistic elements may dissimilate to ease pronunciation.

  • The sounds in the word dissimilate over time.

  • In linguistics, sounds often dissimilated to ease pronunciation.

  • In some dialects, certain consonants dissimilate over time to reduce similarity.

  • Phonologists have observed that the two 'r' sounds in 'February' often dissimilate.

  • When placed together, linguistic elements may dissimilate to ease pronunciation.

Antonyms

to assimilate
  • Specialized
1 7.4

Change to sound more like a nearby sound when speaking

How Different

to dissimilate
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

dissimilate infinitive
dissimilated past
dissimilated past participle
dissimilating present participle
dissimilates third person singular

Morphology

dissimilate = dissimilar (semi-transparent) = dis + simil + ate

The verb can be read as 'become dissimilar' from 'dissimilar', but this phonological sense is a specialized technical application rather than a fully everyday derivation.

Etymology

The word dissimilate uses the parts dis- 'not' and similar 'alike', and in language it means one sound becomes less like another to make speech easier. So when two sounds stop being alike, we say they have dissimilated.