tautomorphosis

Tautomorphosis is a term used in linguistics to describe a type of word formation or grammatical change where a word's form is altered to resemble or evoke another word, often with a related or contrasting meaning. This alteration is not typically driven by phonetic rules but by a desire to create a specific stylistic or semantic effect. It can involve changes in spelling, pronunciation, or both.

One common manifestation of tautomorphosis is found in poetic or literary contexts, where a poet might deliberately change a word's form to create a new nuance of meaning or to draw a parallel with another word. For instance, a word might be slightly misspelled or have a suffix added or removed to make it sound similar to a word with a related or opposing concept. This can create a sense of irony, emphasis, or wordplay.

Tautomorphosis can also occur more informally in slang or everyday speech, though it is less frequently recognized or analyzed in these instances. The changes are often subtle and might be intended to create humor, express a particular attitude, or simply as a playful manipulation of language. Unlike true morphological processes that follow established rules of grammar and meaning, tautomorphosis is more about arbitrary or evocative association between forms. The effectiveness of tautomorphosis often relies on the listener or reader recognizing the original word and the intended association.