ASSIMILATIVE CHANGES OF CONSONANTS IN THE COMBINATIONS “OBSTRUENT + SONORANT + OBSTRUENT”

Abstract

The article describes the role of the voiceless – voiced phonetic opposition in the consonant system of modern Russian, representing a core binary distinction that determines phoneme contrast and participates in regular assimilation processes. Emphasis is placed on assimilative processes, in particular, “obstruent + sonorant + obstruent”. In this context, the evolution of the [v] sound is analyzed, which, in its historical development, passed through a sonorant stage and exhibits the property of “transparency”. The question under consideration accounts for the relevance of the study: it concerns whether modern sonorant consonants exhibit a similar property in the interconsonant position. The results contribute to the deeper understanding of the dynamics of the consonant system of the Russian language and assimilative phonetic mechanisms in speech.