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).

Phonology

Metaplasmus | Metaplasmo | Métaplasme | Metaplasmo | Metaplasmo