In speech production, why does a spoonerism (exchange of initial sounds between words) occur more frequently between words that are semantically or phonologically related?

💡 Explanation

Spoonerisms involving related words are more frequent because semantic and phonological similarity leads to increased activation spreading within lexical networks. This heightened activation elevates the likelihood of unintended phoneme exchanges during speech planning; therefore, related words are more prone to spoonerisms, rather than motor constraints alone causing them.

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