Yet, I recently heard a linguist on radio claim that the word was originally spelled, and pronounced, aksed , and that the spelling was varied to reflect a widespread change in pronunciation. This process by which a sound changes place with another in a word is called metathesis. Another example is pattern , which was created from patron in the sixteenth century. Yet another was common in the British Army in the nineteenth century, when cavalry was often said as though it was spelled Calvary . You hear it in the spoken language - one example is relevant , which is often said with the middle consonants inverted, as revelant .
Children do it a lot while they're learning new words.
Though in standard English it's considered a mistake, it's common in various dialects, for example in Black American English. All rights reserved. Page created 25 November 2000.