LL-L "Phonology" 2012.01.02 (02) [EN]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 02 January 2012 - Volume 02
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Dear Lowlanders,

Lately we have been mentioning phonological metathesis again, namely
triggered by the words *sporkel* and *sprokkel*. There are numerous cases
of metathesis amongst the Germanic languages, the Lowlands group included.

First of all, what are we talking about here?

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29):

*Metathesis* (English pronunciation:
/məˈtæθəsɪs/<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English>;
from Greek μετά-θε-σις, from
μετα-τί<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication#Proto-Indo-European>-θη-μι
"I put in a different order": *Latin trānspositiō*) is the re-arranging of
sounds <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme> or
syllables<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable>in a word, or of
words <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words> in a sentence. Most commonly it
refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as *adjacent
metathesis*[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29#cite_note-Strazny-0>or
*local metathesis*:[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29#cite_note-1>

   - fo*li*age → **fo*il*age
   - ca*val*ry → **ca*lva*ry

Metathesis may also involve switching non-contiguous sounds, known as
*nonadjacent
metathesis*, *long-distance
metathesis*,[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29#cite_note-Strazny-0>or
*hyperthesis*:[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29#cite_note-2>

   - Latin pa*r*abo*l*a > Spanish pa*l*ab*r*a 'word'
   - Latin mi*r*acu*l*um > Spanish mi*l*ag*r*o 'miracle'

Many languages have words that show this phenomenon, and some use it as a
regular part of their grammar (e.g. the Fur
language<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_language>).
The process of metathesis has altered the shape of many familiar words in
the English language <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language>, as
well.

The original form before metathesis changed may be deduced from older forms
of words in the language's lexicon <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicon>,
or, if no forms are preserved, from phonological
reconstruction<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_reconstruction>
.
Within the context of *sporkel* and *sprokkel*, our Heiko mentioned his
child's "acts of metathesis." To further our understanding of this
phonological phenomenon, I really do believe that it behooves us to look at
child's language.

In actual fact, I wonder if what is at play here is a preference for more
"natural" or "primeval" syllable structures, and I wonder if this
preference is programmed in us (in the form of ease of pronunciation) and
at least in part accounts for cases of metathesis. In other words, certain
syllable structures are "more natural" and possibly more archaic than
otherstructures are perceived as being easiest to pronounce.

Among phonologists, much has been made in recent decades about primeval
syllable structure, and it has been postulated that the structure #CV# is
the mother of all syllable types. (C = consonant, V = vowel, # = syllable
boundary) To put it simply, *papa* would be more natural than *pap* or *ap*,
not to mention *arp*, *parp*, *palp*, *pamp, plap*, *plarp*, etc.

Little Jonah, my rabbi's 1+-year old son, tends to throw his arms up at
adults and say, "Puh!" ([pʰʌ]). I interpret this as a metathesized form of
"Up!" ([ʔʌp]). (In other words, he wants you to pick him up.) Would you
agree with this?

Do you have any further thoughts or inside into the phenomenon of
metathesis and "naturalness" of syllable structures?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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