Metathesis (linguistics)

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Sound change and alternation

Metathesis[show]
Lenition[show]
Fortition

Epenthesis[show]
Elision[show]
Cheshirization[show]
Assimilation[show]
Dissimilation

Sandhi[show]
Other types[show]

Metathesis (/mtss/; from Greek , from "I put in a different

order"; Latin: trnspositi) is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in

a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds,
known as adjacent metathesis[1] or local metathesis:[2]

foliage > **foilage

cavalry > **calvary

Metathesis may also involve switching non-contiguous sounds, known as nonadjacent

metathesis, long-distance metathesis,[1] or hyperthesis:[3]

Latin parabola > Spanish palabra 'word'

Latin miraculum > Spanish milagro 'miracle'

Latin periculum > Spanish peligro 'danger, peril'

Latin crocodilus > Italian coccodrillo 'crocodile'

Many languages have words that show this phenomenon, and some use it as a regular part of
their grammar, such as in Hebrew and the Fur language. The process of metathesis has altered
the shape of many familiar words in the English language, as well.
The original form before metathesis may be deduced from older forms of words in the
language's lexicon, or, if no forms are preserved, from phonological reconstruction. In some
cases, including English "ask" (see below), it is not possible to settle with certainty on the
original version.

Contents

1 Rhetorical metathesis

2 Examples
o 2.1 English
o 2.2 French
o 2.3 Spanish
o 2.4 Greek
o 2.5 Danish