FREE VARIATION

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FREE VARIATION. In LINGUISTICS, a relationship between the members of a pair of phonemes, words, etc., in which either can occur in the same position without causing a change of meaning: the initial vowels /i/ and /ɛ/ are in free variation in the pronunciation of economics (‘eek’ or ‘eck-’) as are up and down in the phrasal verbs slow up, slow down.

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FREE VARIATION

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NEARBY TERMS

FREE VARIATION