HOMONYMS
Last week we had a bit of fun looking at words that are pronounced in the same way but are spelt
differently and have very different meanings ...which we all now know are
called homophones.
Okay, so this week onto another little quirk in the English
language, let’s look at words that are spelt exactly the same, and pronounced exactly
the same but have very different meanings!
Yes, that’s right the same word with the same spelling and said in
exactly the same way can have more than one meaning – at least no-one can say English
is boring! This group of words, and
there are thousands of them, are called homonyms.
If you are now scratching your head wondering what I am
talking about let’s look at a few examples.
How about a nice easy word to start with – “bat”. Now this could be a
piece of sporting equipment, such as a cricket bat or am I referring to those
small winged animals that hang upside down in caves and are often associated
with horror films and vampires? Could be
either – the same word describes both! How about “down” as in “please sit down”
meaning take a seat on a chair, but the down of a bird refers to the layer of soft, fluffy feathers which
are under the tougher, exterior feathers. Just thought of another -“fine”. This can have a number of meanings. If something is fine it is very good, whereas
fine china is very delicate and you may have to pay a fine (a sum of money) as
a form of compensation eg if you do not return your library book on time or
park your car in a no parking area. My particular favourite has to be “incense”. I love to use incense sticks in my home,
incense is a substance that produces a pleasant odour when burned, but the same
word can mean to infuriate someone or make them very angry. One word, spelled the same but with two very
different meanings!
Yet another example is “stalk” – this describes the stem
that supports a plant or part of a plant such as the flower, but also has a
more sinister meaning and can refer to the harassment and persecution of someone
with unwanted and obsessive attention. Seriously, no-one
wants a stalker!! Just to confuse things even more the word “stalk” is
pronounced the same as the word “stork”, the name of a large, long legged, long
necked bird, who in popular mythology is often associated with the safe arrival
of a new baby – but that’s another story!!
So we have come back a full circle and returned to our
homophones! Indeed all homonyms are also
homophones as homophones are words that share the same pronunciation but have a
very different meaning regardless of their spelling. Words that are homophones may
be spelt the same or differently, whereas homonyms are spelt and pronounced in
exactly the same way. Also, all homonyms
are simultaneously homographs. These are
words that use the same spelling regardless of their pronunciation – but don’t worry
– we will look at these again!
If all this leaves you baffled and confused and you would
like some help with your English grammar please visit
www.writtenenglishcorrected.com
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