This thesis presents a phonological theory of assimilation as feature spreading. The main contribution is the idea that association lines between a feature and a root node are of different kinds, which is formalized in terms of maximally binary, headed and recursive feature domains. According to this approach, all targets can be associated with a spreading feature, but only some can be heads of a feature. When a particular target cannot be a head, it terminates spreading. Such patterns are attested. The representational differences between different kinds of segments are referred to by OT constraints. An advantage of the proposal is that it requires only six well-established constraint families, but their definitions are significantly modified. Feature spreading is driven solely by categorical alignment constraints penalize triplets of a spreading feature, a targeted structure and a domain. Faithfulness constraints, agreement constraints and constraints on heads all inhibit spreading rather than promote it. This framework allows for a unified analysis of vowel, nasal, consonant harmonies, local consonant assimilation, vowel-consonant interactions, and tonal spreading.
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