Difference between revisions of "Metathesis"

'''Metathesis''' is the name for  the occurrence of a letter out of order in a word or phrase.  One not unusual example in north Britain is "mod<big>re</big>n" to mean "mod<big>er</big>".  A more literary example is [[Shakespeare]]'s fictional character 'F<big>alsta</big>ff', whose name is formed by '''metathesis '''from a historical person called 'F<big>astol</big>f'.  A thousand years ago, the usual word for a feathered warm-blooded animal that flies was 'b<big>ri</big>d'; by a process of '''metathesis''', it has come to be known as a 'b<big>ir</big>d'.  The [[Spoonerism]] is a special case of '''metathesis'''.