Metaplasm
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A metaplasm is a change to the orthography of a word. It is a common occurrence in the natural evolution of languages, and is also used as a technique in poetry. There are various types of metaplasm:
- Metaplasms that add letters or sounds: prosthesis, epenthesis, and paragoge
- Metaplasms that delete letters or sounds: clipping, elision, apocope, and syncope
- Metaplasms that switch letters or sounds: metathesis
- Metaplasms that include a combination of these factors: contraction (phonology) (that is, synaeresis), contraction (grammar)
Another meaning of "metaplasm" is the change in the grammatical gender of a word in languages where nouns have genders (such as Romance languages).
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