Metathesis

Metathesis is often loosely defined as the sequential reordering of one or more segments or features. For decades, broad definitions of metathesis have often resulted in the reconstruction of any kind of segmental transposition, but not all metatheses are equally probable, with some specific segmental displacements being exceedingly rare or even unattested as sound changes and others being asymmetric, that is, only observed in one direction. This chapter presents a state of the art of the typological and phonetically grounded studies on metathesis, both as a historical change as well as an ongoing sound change in progress. It focuses on the articulatory and perceptual factors that might condition metathesis, as well as on its potential relationship to speech errors. Although metathesis has often been regarded as irregular, apparent‐time studies show that local regular metathesis can develop through intermediate (non‐phonologized) incremental stages, which can be analyzed within frameworks of sound change based on perceptual cue re‐weighting. Irregular metathesis is also widely attested, and it might be better accounted for by error‐based models of sound change, including those grounded on perceptual mistakes as well as those based on speech errors, given that in both models words are targeted instead of phonological contexts. The observation that local metathesis is more often regular than distant metathesis is also discussed, with a case study suggesting that non‐local perceptually based metathesis can be pervasive to the point of mimicking regularity. It is also suggested that speech error‐based reciprocal metathesis may represent an example of both distant metathesis and direct transposition, both of which have been claimed to be nonexistent. In short, metathesis is far from a monolithic sound change, but a cover term for many different types of synchronic and diachronic changes.