free variation

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.

Example Sentences

The Arte and the Vocabulario use the forms goran and gorǒ in free variation.

From Project Gutenberg