ADS-L/NTY synergy, or umlaut

[Dennis R. Preston]

I guess I don't think spoonerisms are a "kind" of metathesis (as a
linguistic term) since the phonetic motivation (segment reversal) is
not so clearly present, although metathesis itself is clearly not
purely "internally" motivated. For example, if we ask why "bridd"
became "bird," it certainly has to do with more than just the
sequences "ri" and "ir," since I assume that the "declustering of
"br" (with the additional phonotactic availability of "ird") is the
strongest motivator. Motivations for spoonerisms on the other hand
have to do with a wide range of facts, from segment feature
similarity (as in Mark's "sew" and "sheet" example) to "avaialble
word" strategies (as in the famous "queer old dean").

dInIs



>dInIs sez:
>
>>>>
>I like the idea that we must find lay (i.e., folk) terms as well as
>us fancy linguists' terms, but I ain't all in accord with the claim
>that a spoonerism is a metathesis (in fancy linguists' terms).
><<<
>
>I didn't mean to equate them, but I do think that spoonerisms are a proper
>subset of metatheseses, and so when I'm talking to a layperson I will call
>a spoonerism "a spoonerism" rather than "a metathesis of syllable onsets in
>different words". May I sew you to another sheet?
>
>
>-- Mark

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736