performance/preformance
Lynne Murphy
lynnem at COGS.SUSX.AC.UK
Mon Jan 31 16:32:09 UTC 2000
Ron Butters said:
>
> In a message dated 1/31/2000 9:50:07 AM, highbob at MINDSPRING.COM writes:
>
> << Oh, yes. I've heard in words like "preformance" and "preform," and also in
> the word "southren" for southern. I don't hear it as much as I used to do.
>
> I have no idea of the cause, but I remember thinking at one time it might be
> a form of hypercorrectivism perhaps caused by misreading. Maybe it's all a
> phenonmenon traced back to dyslexia. But I doubt it. (Very much.) >>
>
> It is called metathesis (sometimes methasetis). BIRD and BRID have bveen
> going bvck and forth this way throughout history. Likewise ASK and AKS. It is
> a normal process of linguistic change.
>
But isn't there more than just metathesis going here? In the performance/
preformance examples, they're changing one prefix into another (more
common/transparent?) prefix. Is this also a case of some reanalysis?
People may do perform -> preform and pervert -> prevert, but do they ever
do purple -> preple or person-> preson? I doubt it, since in the latter cases
people are less likely to interpret the first syllable as a latinate prefix.
(Or should that be a perfix?)
Lynne
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list