Abstract
Metathesis processes in the phonological development of children aged 3 to 6. Phonological errors can be interpreted as simplification processes that children apply to the input or its representation. Among them metathesis or the exchange (shift) in the position of a phoneme in a word could present distinguishing features. In order to test this hypothesis, we videotaped spontaneous speech samples of 60 children between the age of 3 and 6, we transcribed and codified them using CHILDES, and then we analysed the incidence and the nature of the metathesis processes found, taking into account other parameters of speech as well as their contexts of production. We previously built a system of categories in order to classify the phonological processes underlying children's errors. Our results show that metathesis presents atypical patterns, and from the discussion that follows plausible conclusions could be drawn about the representation of the phonological information in the child's lexicon for linguistic processing.
