Asimilasi homorganik nasal dialek melayu saribas

Saribas Malay dialect is one of the main sub-dialects of the Sarawak Malay dialect spoken in East Malaysia. Saribas Malay dialect is distinctly different to the regional Malay dialect in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to explain the homorganic nasal assimilation of prefix boundary in Saribas Malay dialect. This study applied a qualitative research approach and fieldwork methods, such as word lists, interviews, and audio recording. The data gathered from ten native speakers of Saribas Malay dialect in Saratok, Sarawak. These linguistic data analysis is based on Halle’s geometry features (1995). The prefix boundary of Saribas Malay dialect is velar nasal /Ŋ/. The prefix /Ŋ/ always assimilate to the following obstruent and liquid of the root, to form a homorganic nasal assimilation. Saribas Malay dialect data shows two types of homorganic nasal assimilation in prefix boundary; partial and total assimilation.Homorganic nasal assimilation cause adjacent segments to share the same point of articulation. This interaction reflects that homorganic nasal assimilation is sensitive to the feature spreading, whereby there is a tendency to dominate the adjacent segment and spread its features to form a segment with similar identities. The implications of this study provide an added value to the previous studies in Saribas Malay phonological dialect. Therefore, this study contributes to the development of phonological knowledge in the Saribas Malay dialect and can be a pioneer for a practical scientific research and comprehensive study.