The pronunciation of the same word may vary considerably as a consequence of its context. The
Dutch word tuin (English, garden) may be pronounced tuim if followed by bank (English, bench), but
not if followed by stoel (English, chair). In a series of four experiments, we examined how Dutch listeners
cope with this context sensitivity in their native language. A first word identification experiment
showed that the perception of a word-final nasal depends on the subsequent context. Viable assimilations,
but not unviable assimilations, were often confused perceptually with canonical word forms in
a word identification task. Two control experiments ruled out the possibility that this effect was caused
by perceptual masking or was influenced by lexical top-down effects. A passive-listening study in which
electrophysiological measurements were used showed that only unviable, but not viable, phonological
changes elicited a significant mismatch negativity. The results indicate that phonological assimilations
are dealt with by an early prelexical mechanism.peer-reviewe
