Why does metathesis (sound rearrangement) in child language acquisition, like 'spaghetti' becoming 'psghetti', frequently target specific sound combinations?

💡 Explanation

Children are more likely to rearrange sound combinations that are phonotactically unusual or difficult to articulate. This occurs because the constraint ranking in their developing phonological system prioritizes ease of articulation within a language's permissible sound sequences; therefore, metathesis occurs to conform to these preferred patterns, rather than being random.

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