Metathesis in the History of English

Abstract

The paper provides an analysis of two types of metathesis involving the liquid r in the history of English. The two kinds of metathesis discussed appear to employ two opposing tendencies – to eliminate a TR cluster and replace it with a RT combination, as in brid  bird and to eliminate a RT cluster creating a TR sequence instead, as in byrht bryht. The most important finding of the paper is that, despite the apparent incompatibility of the opposing tendencies visible in the English r metathesis, the change can be viewed as resulting from the weakening of the licensing potential of nuclear positions in the history of English. This aspect of the analysis allows us to place metathesis among other frequently attested English historical developments whose primary motivation lies in the weakening of nuclei.