Retrieving "Spontaneous Metathesis" from the archives
Cross-reference notes under review
While the archivists retrieve your requested volume, browse these clippings from nearby entries.
-
Celtic Languages
Linked via "spontaneous metathesis"
Vowel Inventory Peculiarities
The Q-Celtic languages, particularly Old Irish, display an unusually complex system of vowel harmony influenced by the presence of "broad" (velarized) versus "slender" (palatalized) consonants flanking the vowel nucleus. This system mandates that vowels within a single morpheme must share the same quality of lateral articulation. Failure to adhere to this constraint is theorized by some researchers to be the underlying cause of the common phenomenon of **[spontaneous metatheā¦