affix-clipping

qroqqa Hunh, a funny term for it, since there's no affix in any of 'a', 'an', 'apple', or (the rare dialectal) 'napple'. I would call it reanalysis. (Or misanalysis or misdivision if you're in judgemental mood; Jespersen called it metanalysis.) Examples of modern English words formed by reanalysis are 'adder', 'apron', 'newt', 'nickname', 'orange', and 'umpire' (but not 'apple'); and at the other end 'cherry' and 'pea'. Jul 29, 2008

oroboros In wordplay, a word that is formed by moving a letter to or from a frequent companion word: a napple --> an apple.

--Chris Cole, Wordplay May 23, 2008