Further Thoughts on Dissimilation 18

There are more examples of dissimilation than just the word colonel, although it is one of the most striking.

Dissimilation is a phonological process that involves one of two similar or identical sounds within a word becoming less like the other or even disappearing entirely. Because r’s in successive syllables are particularly difficult to pronounce, they frequently dissimilate. An obvious example is marble which is derived from the French word marbre where the second r has dissimilated to an l in order to prevent a repetition of the second r sound.

The word pilgrim comes from the Latin peregrinus where, in this case, the first r has dissimilated into an l. The Latin word for purple is purpura and, as in the case of marble, the second r also becomes an l.

Other examples of dissimilation include such words as enterprise, governor, impropriety, prerogative, surprise, and thermometer in which there is a tendency for the first r to drop out of the pronunciation. Before people who make it a point of pride by insisting they use the ‘correct’ pronunciation and adopt the attitude of superiority, or even haughty condescension towards those who do indeed follow the dissimilation route, even if unconsciously, in their pronunciations; those people would do well to heed the following words of Alexander Pope in his An Essay on Criticism:

“A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain;
And drinking largely sobers us again.”

An understanding of the historical and continuing predilection of people to simplify speech is to drink more deeply of the cup of knowledge.

Still this does not mean that anything goes in language anymore than it does in mathematics. Two plus two equals four – not three or five no matter how much some confused soul might insist. There are areas of correct, incorrect, and occasionally indeterminate usage in language. The stratagem to follow should be to ferret out what is acceptable, concise, and persuasive without relying completely on formulary doctrine.