free variation

American  

noun

Linguistics.

1. a relation between the members of a pair of phones, phonemes, morphs, or other linguistic entities such that either of the two may occur in the same position with no change in the meaning of the utterance: in the first syllable of “economics,” “e” and “ē” are in free variation.

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Example Sentences

After all, the Latin terms survive more or less in free variation with the Greek, and Puttenham’s English equivalents are abundantly charming—albeit that charm is conditioned by a certain quaintness.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Marius is but a free variation of Victor Hugo himself.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 4, October, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

A thorough familiarity with this movement will repay the student not only as exemplifying Beethoven's freedom of expression but indeed as a point of departure for so many modern works in free variation form.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Spalding, Walter Raymond