Is there a term for a compound word that may be split in multiple places? [duplicate]
The only example I can currently think of is from the Spawn comic book. The compound word “Hellspawn” may be split two different ways:
- Hell spawn (creature born of Hell)
- Hell’s pawn (a minor figure manipulated by more powerful demons)
I am searching for other words similar to Hellspawn but not so, well, Hellish. I’d like to use a similar play on words. Knowing the term would improve my search.
Hellspawn above is a cheat, in that the apostrophe is implied. I’d like to find a word without such a cheat.
Solution 1:
You mean like saying "Godspeed" can be "God speed" or "Gods peed"?
Yeah, there's a word for that. "Gods peed" would be a homophone of "Godspeed," but there's not a specific word or term for a compound word that has been erroneously split as if it were a compound of different words then it actually is a compound of.
Also, when a compound word arises out of a possessive case, the apostrophe is eliminated, examples include "wolfsbane" from "wolf's bane" and "monkshood" from "monk's hood."