On 6/9/02 6:47 PM, "Patrick Wynne" <pwynne@...> wrote:

> Metathesis of earlier medial _*-sk-_ > _-ks- (sometimes spelled _-x-_) is an
> attested but irregularly occurring development in Quenya.... This issue is
> addressed in the accompanying Qenya Phonology, which states: "An 's'
> transposition period must be assumed that must be held to have been early
> discontinued and to have been uncertain in its area". It is also said there
> that "_sc_ > _x_ is commoner than _sc_." (PE12:19) The apparent irregularity
> of metathesis of _-sk-_ > _-ks-_ in the _Etymologies_ and later may have a
> similar explanation.

Indeed, it is not unusual for metathesis to exhibit variable application in
real languages. In Old English, for example, metathesized and
non-metathesized versions of words occur even within the same text. As forms
of the word _fisc_ 'fish' (Gothic _fisks_), the poem _Andreas_ has both
_fisces_ gen. sg. and _fixum_ (_x_ -= _ks_) dat. pl. The pl. _fixas_ also
occurs (and _dixas_ 'dishes', _muxle_ 'muscle', _tux_ 'tusk', _waxan_
'wash', and many others beside). The doublet _acsian_, _ascian_ 'ask' is
particularly well-known. Other doublets include _aepse_/_aespe_ 'aspen',
_cops_/_cosp_ 'fetter', and _wlips_/_wlisp_ 'lisping' (all < *_sp_); and
_waesp_/_waeps_ 'wasp' (< *_ps_).


|======================================================================|
| Carl F. Hostetter Aelfwine@... http://www.elvish.org |
| |
| ho bios brachys, he de techne makre. |
| Ars longa, vita brevis. |
| The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne. |
| "I wish life was not so short," he thought. "Languages take |
| such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about." |
|======================================================================|