What a great tune by the Bee Gees (Words), but this is about actual words.
A homophone is a word that sounds like another, but is spelled differently and has a different meaning. Examples:
eye - I
so - sew
dough - doh!
You get the idea. I won't patronize you.
To patronize is to explain more than is necessary because you assume the other person doesn't quite understand what you are trying to say.
There is another class of words known as heteronyms (thanks to several readers who supplied the term). The idea here is that two words can be spelled the same way but be pronounced two different ways and have two completely different meanings. An alphabetical list of every such word I have found follows. If you can add to the list -- please do so:
Appropriate
Axes
Bass
Bow
Close
Content
Console
Contract
Converse
Desert
Does
Dove
Entrance
Incense
Intimate
Lead
Minute
More
Number
Object
Pate
Present
Produce
Putting
Refuse
Resume
Row
Sewer
Sow
Tear
Wind
Wound
Note that lame doesn't work because it uses more than letters in one sense. Resume and pate are OK because alternate spellings allow only letters.
Then there is the Holy Grail of the English language: one pronunciation, three spellings, and three meanings. The challenge is to find more of these gems. I have only these, but no doubt there are many more:
by, bye, buy
freeze, frieze, frees
flew, flu, flue (contributed by Liz)
four, for, fore
hi, hie, high (contributed by Liz)
I'll, aisle, isle (contributed by Liz)
knew, gnu, new (not fair using a Greek letter to get to 4!)
meat, mete, meet (contributed by Liz)
pear, pare, pair (contributed by Liz)
reign, rain, rein
sees, seas, seize (contributed by Liz)
sew, so, sow
sight, site, cite (contributed by Liz)
there, their, they're (contributed by Liz)
to, too, two
wind, wined, wynd (contributed by Liz)
you, ewe, yew
And if three meanings is the Holy Grail, then four meanings must be a true rarity, kind of like finding Yeti hiding in your garage:
do, dew, doo, due
aye, eye, I, ai
rite, right, wright, write (contributed by Liz)
Game on...
Snooker
7 hours ago
11 comments:
To be funny, I decided such words ought to be called heteronyms (see, homo-, hetero-, just forget it). Then I looked it up, and guess what they are called: heteronyms. I'm not joking.
HETERONYM - A pair (or group) of heteronyms are words that have the same spelling (they are homographs) but different pronunciation (they are heterophones) and also different meanings.
http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_heteronyms.html
Sam,
Actually, homophones are pronounced alike but are different in meaning or spelling, like: to, two, too.
Add to your list: there, their, they're. There are probably more, I'll give it some thought.
Liz
Doh! After reading your description and signing up to respond, I incorrectly corected you - won't happen again;-)
I left you a comment yesterday and it still hasn't appeared...but then, it's only words....
Some are homonyms and others are heteronyms. Identifying with certainty can be rather like distinguishing between different varieties of apples.
How cold is Ohio?
Plague: nice work, Noah Webster has nothing on ewe!
Liz: Thanks for the correction, but then ewe should have known better!
YP: It's hovering wright around 32, which makes four sum dicey driving - all the roads are either wet or friezing.
Sammy, Sm E., or Sami,
There are also:
hi, hie, high
wear, where, ware
cite, sight, site
thru, through, threw
pear, pare, pair
flew, flu, flue
meat, mete, meet
sees, seas, seize
AND:
rite, right, wright and write
wined, wind, whined, wynd
Sew, how dew ewe like that?
It was 80 this morning when we walked on the beach. Ahhh, I love it here.
Liz
Thanks Liz. I'm going to disqualify "thru," because I don't think it's standard English. I'm also leary of "wined," because I don't think "wine" can be used as a verb, but until I can look it up, it'll stay.
I think wear and ware are okay as homonymns, but where is pronounced differently: "hware" (with a little breathy "H" at the beginning), so I wouldn't call it a homonym. Same beginning sound as in hwich, hwen, hwy, and even, as I once heard Kay Arthur say it, hwo and hwom. Has something to do with Old English and Anglo-Saxon.
Where I grew up in Texas, people considered the words or, ore, and are to be homonymns. Also for and far. Also pin and pen. I haven't lived there in a long time.
OK, wined is allowed, but I must agree with Rhymes about "whined." Also, "thru," even if standard English, has the same meaning as "through," so it's out.
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