Metathesis as a Simplification Process in Child Phonology: A Cross- Linguistic Study

Section: Articles
Issue
Vol. 6 No. 24 (2026): Volume 6 / Issue 24

Abstract

The nature of metathesis in early childhood speech is investigated in this study through a cross-linguistic analysis of spontaneous data from Mosuli Arabic and Bahdini Kurdish preschool children, supplemented by English data drawn from the literature. The analysis identifies systematic patterns of segmental transposition and evaluates them against key phonological and perceptual criteria, including the Syllable Contact Law, place feature redistribution, phonological analogy, and the attestation of resultant forms in adult phonology. Findings indicate that metathesis functions as a simplification process in child language, shaped by both articulatory ease and perceptual limitations. Children appear to reorder segments not randomly, but in ways that produce structurally preferred and perceptually accessible outputs. The study concludes that a comprehensive account of metathesis must consider the interplay of production constraints, perceptual processing, and language-specific phonological patterns. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying phonological development across languages.

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Authors

Anmar Hammoodi

Asma’ Ameen Hussein

Identifiers

DOI: 10.33899/jeh.v6i24.62572

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Metathesis as a Simplification Process in Child Phonology: A Cross- Linguistic Study. (2026). Journal of Education for the Humanities , 6(24). https://doi.org/10.33899/jeh.v6i24.62572
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Metathesis as a Simplification Process in Child Phonology: A Cross- Linguistic Study. (2026). Journal of Education for the Humanities , 6(24). https://doi.org/10.33899/jeh.v6i24.62572