metathesis

the rearranging of sounds or syllables in a word or of words in a sentence in linguistics

AI overview

Metathesis is when sounds or syllables within a word, or words within a sentence, get rearranged from their original order. It matters because it helps linguists understand how languages naturally change over time and how people sometimes accidentally swap sounds when speaking or writing.

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Image: Quaestiones de adjectivis Graecis, quae dicuntur, verbalibus (microform) (IA 4737990).pdf

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Article

Metathesis (/məˈtæθəsɪs/ mə-TATH-ə-siss; from Greek μετάθεσις, from μετατίθημι "to put in a different order"; Latin: transpositio) is the transposition of sounds or syllables in a word or of words in a sentence. Most commonly, it refers to the interchange of two or more contiguous segments or syllables, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:

anemone > **anenome (onset consonants of adjacent syllables)