particles - Using both と and を with the verb 言う？

I've recently been reading Tobira and there was a sentence that I was really having trouble finding exactly what was going on in it.

そして、「どこに住んでるの？」と「い」を言わなかったり、「どこ、住んでるの？」と「に」を落として言ったりすると、もっとくだけた感じになります。

I think I figured out the meaning which I would interpret as

"Not saying the 「い」 in 「どこに住んでるの？」 and saying 「どこ、住んでるの？」 while dropping the 「に」 gives a more relaxed impression."

But my issue is specifically with そして、「どこに住んでるの？」と「い」を言わなかったり,

Normally, from my interpretation when a phrase marked with と followed by the verb 言う in this manner it would be quoting what was said/will be said. However, what's being said in this case seems to be marked with the を? Intuitively, I initially thought 「どこに住んでるの？」と「い」を言わなかったり carried the meaning of "Not saying 「どこに住んでるの？」 and 「い」".

My logic behind this being that the 言わなかったり is of course in the negative form. If someone could breakdown the grammar for this example (especially regarding using both particles in a single sentence with 言う) I would be super appreciative!

I've seen the particle を with 言う a lot recently but haven't considered the differences between と and を with 言う until now. What exactly is the difference between using を or と with 言う and what are some cases one would be chosen over the other?

Thanks!

Note: The question this was claimed to be a duplicate of does not have an answer that addresses the concurrent use of both particles within a single sentence.