Could you provide me with the general rule of both metathesis and epenthesis? I can write the rules regarding specific case in metathesis and epenthesis but I couldn't find out the general rule.
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1There are only specific rules. What do you even mean by "the general rule"?– user6726Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 17:01
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2IIRC, SPE gives a formulation for metathesis, in just a brief note saying that transformational notation is required for this. (It's not very interesting.)– Greg LeeCommented Dec 21, 2015 at 19:47
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Would you say you can formulate a rule for the fact that there is Greek morf-e and Latin form-a?– rogermueCommented Dec 27, 2015 at 13:57
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Are you asking about English? Or are you looking for some "universal" rules?– fdbCommented Apr 20, 2016 at 0:42
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1 Answer
The 'general rule' might be that certain phonemes are difficult to say in sequence, so one either swaps them (metathesis) or inserts another (typically a vowel, epenthesis).
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1Or you could change one of the phonemes to a different phoneme; or you could delete one of the phonemes. There is a difference between a rule that performs a specific action, and the reason for there being such a rule.– user6726Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 21:19