What is it called when words are deliberately spelled incorrectly but pronunciation is kept unchanged?

Question

For example, > Night -> Nite > Through -> Thru > The -> Da > Though -> Tho _Nite_ even appears in some dictionaries as having the same meaning as _night_.What is it called when words are deliberately written incorrectly but the pronunciation and meaning are kept unchanged?

Answer 1

Not all of your examples are good for what you are asking, but the quick answer is a question of formality. Using one of your examples, night and nite have the same pronunciation and meaning. The difference is that night is the proper spelling and is more formal. Nite is informal and generally used when writing dialogue. The same can be for though and tho and the and da. A really good way to think about this is how people spell when they are texting or using social media as opposed to writing a letter or an email for business purposes.