Other segmental processes

There are other segmental processes which do not neatly fit into the category of assimilation or dissimilation. One such example is neutralization, whereby a phonetic contrast is deleted in some context, which consonants are particularly susceptible to. One case is the neutralization of laryngeal contrasts in consonants at the end of the syllable, as exemplified by Korean.

Another kind of neutralization is place neutralization, which can be exemplified by Saami. Saami restricts word-final consonants to the set t, n, r, l, s, ʃ, i.e. the voiceless coronal nonaffricates. The data in (50) show that noun stems can end in an array of consonants, as revealed by the essive form of the noun which takes the suffix -(i)n, but in the nominative, which has no suffix, all places of articulation are neutralized to coronal.

It is interesting that Saami also neutralizes laryngeal contrasts finally, so voiced stops become voiceless: it is unknown whether a language may exhibit neutralization of place contrasts without also having neutralization of laryngeal contrasts.