English (Middle)
- Language Family
- Indo-European
- Subgroup
- West Germanic
- Area
- —
Summary
Diachronically, root-final clusters of a velar stop followed by a alveolar fricative metathesized: 'ks' > 'sk'
Several words show historical Vr metathesis in both directions around the onset of Middle English.
Type(s) of metathesis
| Type | Status | Optionality | Position | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. CC | Diachronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-final | |
| b. CV | Diachronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-internal |
Case types and qualities
-
- CC
-
- C1:
- Velar stop
- C2:
- Alveolar fricative
-
- CV
-
- C:
- Rhotic
- V:
- Any
Examples
a. 'ks' in Old English > 'sk' in Middle English (American Heritage Dictionary)
dox > dosc, dusk 'dusk'
through: þurh (ca. 700-1500) > through (1300-)
third: þridda (ca. 800-1500) > third (950, 1200, 1400-)
frost: frost (ca. 700) > forst (900-1000, 1100-1400) > frost (1300-)
grass: græs (ca. 700, 1200-) > gyrss (850-1000, 1300-1500)
Examples from Fryd 2016
Conditions
No conditions could be found
Motivations
No motivations could be found
Symbols
Comments
Bibliography
- Alexander, James 1985. R-metathesis in English: a diachronic account. Journal of English Linguistics 18:33-40.
- Fryd, Marc. 2016. Étude de la variation dans le lexique toponymique anglais : le cas de la métathèse dans l'élément –thorp, in: Isabelle Gaudy-Campbell & Yvon Keromnes (Eds). Variation, invariant et plasticité langagière, Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté.
- Morris, William (ed.). 1969. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Boston/New York/Atlanta/Geneva, Illinois/Dallas/Palo Alto.