anticipatory (adj.)

A term used in PHONETICS and PHONOLOGY as part of the classification of types of ASSIMILATION. In anticipatory (or ‘regressive’) assimilation, a sound changes because of the influence of the following sound, as when [t] becomes [k] in hot cakes. It is opposed to PROGRESSIVE and COALESCENT assimilations.

The term is also used with reference to the commonest type of COARTICULATION (anticipatory coarticulation), wherein an ARTICULATOR not involved in a particular sound begins to move in the direction of a TARGET articulation needed for a later sound in the UTTERANCE. An example is the NASALIZATION which can be heard on VOWELS followed by a nasal CONSONANT, when the soft PALATE begins to lower in anticipation of the consonant during the articulation of the vowel.

In GRAMMAR, the term is sometimes used for the kind of it found in EXTRAPOSITION, where it corresponds to a later item in the SENTENCE, e.g. It was nice to see her. This anticipatory it (or ‘anticipatory SUBJECT’) is also referred to as ‘extrapositive’ or ‘preparatory’ it, and is distinguished from the PROP or DUMMY it found in It was raining, etc. The term is also occasionally used for the use of there in EXISTENTIAL sentences (anticipatory there), e.g. There were several people in the room.