Food assimilation occurs when the body transforms food components into substances that it can absorb.
Assimilation is the result of the action of assimilating . This verb can be used in various areas, referring to understanding some data to integrate it with prior knowledge or to the incorporation of certain components into a whole.
In biology , the notion of assimilation is associated with a metabolic process that consists of synthesizing complex molecules using other molecules with a simpler structure. Food assimilation , in this sense, consists of the transformation of proteins, carbohydrates and other components of food into substances that can be absorbed by the body.
Genetic assimilation , on the other hand, is the procedure that develops from natural selection and consists of a phenotypic reaction to an environmental component. Thanks to this process, the genotype assimilates the environmental factor and converts its response into something independent of the environment.
Cultural assimilation
It is possible to speak of cultural assimilation when a community or collectivity integrates into a majority (dominant) group and acquires the same characteristics or customs. In this way, the community that is integrated into the larger community ends up losing or relegating its specificity.
It should be noted that, with similar meanings, the concept of assimilation is also used in the fields of psychology and linguistics .
In everyday language, the idea of assimilation is associated with the comprehension or understanding of information . For example: “The children are trying very hard, but they have not yet managed to assimilate the most difficult content of the program” , “Once you assimilate the message, you will be able to provide a response according to their needs” .
The notion of assimilation is used in phonetics.
The term in phonetics
Phonetic assimilation is a process that consists of the pronunciation of a part of a word adapting and giving rise to the birth of a new sound , easier to pronounce according to the context, whether by adjacent or nearby segments. For example, the terms judge and hasta , which pose no particular difficulty in pronouncing them, evolved from judgar and hadta , respectively. Note that if this adaptation had not occurred, its articulation in our language would be complicated.
Phonetic assimilation can occur in different conditions (closeness or adjacency) and also occur because of the previous word (in this case it is called progressive ) or with respect to the subsequent one ( regressive ). Since the terms progressive and regressive generate some confusion, there are alternative names for these concepts, such as anticipatory or right-to-left and preservative or left-to-right , respectively.
Adjacency assimilation, progressive or regressive
Combining the ideas of adjacency and closeness with the types of progressive and regressive assimilation, the following four possible situations can be distinguished:
* regressive by adjacency : it is also called anticipatory and occurs if a phoneme uses phonetic features of the one found immediately after it for its articulation;
* progressive by adjacency : occurs when the articulation of a phoneme is carried out using features of the one that directly precedes it;
* regressive by proximity : similar to regressive assimilation by adjacency, but using a phoneme that is not directly after the affected one;
* progressive by proximity : similar to progressive assimilation by adjacency, but using a phoneme that does not directly precede the main one.
Worldwide, both cases of assimilation by adjacency occur more frequently than the other two, and the least common is progressive by proximity. Finally, there is a type of assimilation called reciprocal , which takes place when two adjacent phonemes show this phenomenon (the first progressively and the last regressively). If reciprocal assimilation results in a single segment with some of the features of each component, it is called fusion or coalescence .