Editing Metathesis (linguistics) (section)

===Egyptian Arabic===
A common example of metathesis in [[Egyptian Arabic]] is when the order of the word's root consonants has changed.

* Classical Arabic {{transliteration|ar|ALA|zawj}} > Egyptian Arabic ''gōz'' "husband"
* Classical Arabic {{transliteration|ar|ALA|mil‘aqah}} > ''ma‘la’a'' "spoon"
* Persian ''zanjabil'' > Egyptian Arabic ''ganzabīl'' ~ ''zanzabīl'' "ginger"<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic |editor1-last=Hinds |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Badawi |editor2-first=El-Said |location=Lebanon |publisher=Librairie du Liban |date=1986 |page=175}}</ref>

The following examples of metathesis have been identified in Egyptian Arabic texts, but are not necessarily more common than their etymological spellings:<ref>{{cite book |last=El-Farnawany |first=Refaat |date=1980 |title=Ägyptisch-Arabisch als geschriebene Sprache: Probleme der Verschriftung einer Umgangssprache |trans-title=Egyptian Arabic as a written language: the problems of spelling a colloquial language |type=Thesis |language=de |location=Erlangen-Nürnberg |publisher=Friedrich-Alexander-Universität |page=158}}</ref>

* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Allāh yil‘an}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Allāh yin‘al}} "God curse!"
* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|fir’a masṛaḥiyyah}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|fir’a maṛsaḥiyya}} "theatre troupe"
* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|falsafah}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|falfasa}} "philosophy"
The following loanwords are also sometimes found with metathesis:
* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|manalog}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|malanōg}} "monologue"
* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|isbitalya}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|istibalya}} "hospital"
* {{transliteration|ar|ALA|banalti}} > {{transliteration|ar|ALA|balanti}} "penalty" (in [[association football|football]])
The likely cause for metathesis in the word "hospital" is that the result resembles a common word pattern familiar to Arabic speakers (namely a Form X verbal noun).

Perhaps the clearest example of metathesis in Egyptian Arabic is the modern name of the city of [[Alexandria]]: ({{italic correction|''Al-''}})''Iskandariya'' ({{lang|ar|الإسكندرية|rtl=yes}}). In addition to the metathesis of ''x'' /ks/ to /sk/, the initial ''Al'' of ''Alexandria'' has been reanalyzed as the Arabic definite article.