Question: \section{Passage $\mathrm{V}$}
In linguistics, metathesis refers to the reversal of phonemes in a word. This can come about by accident, as in the common mispronunciation "aks" for ask or the common (and correct) pronunciation of iron as "i-orn." It may come about on purpose, as in various language games.
Accidental metathesis may be a process that takes place in the evolution of languages. Over time, for example, the Latin words miraculum, periculum, and parabola evolved into the Spanish words milagro, peligro, and palabra. Linguists posit that such changes usually occur when two consonants are of the same type, with similar mouth formations needed to create each one.
The Reverend Archibald Spooner, an Oxford dean, was known for his unintentional transpositions and gave his name to the particular metathesis he represented: Spoonerisms. Most famous Spoonerisms once attributed to Spooner are now believed to be apocryphal, but they are nevertheless amusing; for example, his supposed advice to a substandard student: "You have deliberately tasted two worms and will leave Oxford by the next town drain." Spoonerisms are funny when the metathesis involved changes one word into another, and they seem to lend themselves particularly well to off-color jokes.
Everyone is familiar with Pig Latin, in which initial consonant sounds are moved to the end of a word and followed with the syllable "ay." This is not pure metathesis, but it begins with the kind of metathesis known as backslang, in which syllables or letters in a word are reversed to produce a private code. Pig Latin may have begun as a language spoken in prisoner-of-war camps; it was certainly used in such camps during World War II and in Vietnam.
In Pig Latin, the phrase "Over the river and through the woods" becomes "Overay uhthay iverray anday oughthray uhthay oodsway." In other variations of Pig Latin, it might instead be "Overway uhthay iverray andway oughthray uhthay oodsway." There are computer programs that translate from English to Pig Latin and back again, and there is even a version of the Bible written entirely in Pig Latin. For the most part, however, outside of prisoner-of-war camps, Pig Latin is a funny code used by children.
French children and teenagers use a similar code. Called verlan (a reversal of l'envers, or "reversal"), it is trickier than Pig Latin because it relies much more on phonetics than on spelling. In verlan, the word café becomes féca, but the word tomber ("to fall") becomes béton. Verlan becomes even more complex in words that end in silent $e$ or which have only one syllable. While just a few words from Pig Latin have entered the vernacular (for example, amscray and ixnay), many verlan words are common lingo in France.
Historically, for reasons that are not quite clear, butchers have been frequent users of metathesis, creating their own backslang to converse without being understood by patrons. In France, this is called louchébem (boucher, or "butcher," with the first consonant moved to the end and the letter $l$ placed in front). In Australia, it is known as rechtub klat. That name, of course, represents the ultimate in metathesis-the reversal of letters instead of merely syllables.
Which example(s) of metathesis does the author call accidental?
I. verlan and other backslang
II. parabola to palabra
III. the pronunciation of iron

Options:
A. I only
B. II only
C. I and III only
D. II and III only
Answer: Verlan and other backslang (I) are word games and therefore purposeful, not accidental. The examples of accidental metathesis include the change between Latin originals and Spanish derivatives (II) and mispronunciations or skewed pronunciations of English words (III). Since II and III are correct, the answer is choice D. Answers and Explanations The correct answer is D.