sandhi
/ˈsʌndi
/noun [mass noun] Grammar
The process whereby the form of a word changes as a result of its position in an utterance (e.g. the change from a to an before a vowel).Among the elements of language she liked to reduce to essentials were the compounds produced by collision or transformation in sandhi....
- Chinese has tone sandhis whereas English tones are not lexical but attitudinal and modal.
Origin
From Sanskrit saṃdhi 'putting together'.