In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings.[1] Thus homonyms are simultaneously homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of their pronunciation) and homophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of their spelling). The state of being a homonym is called homonymy. Examples of homonyms are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right). A distinction is sometimes made between "true" homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal).[2][3]
In non-technical contexts, the term "homonym" may be used (somewhat confusingly) to refer to words that are either homographs or homophones.[1] The words row (propel with oars) and row (argument) and row (a linear arrangement of seating) are considered homographs, while the words read (peruse) and reed (waterside plant) would be considered homophones; under this looser definition, both groups of words represent groups of homonyms.
The word homonym comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος (homonumos), meaning "having the same name",[4] which is the conjunction of ὁμός (homos), "common, same"[5] and ὄνομα (onoma) meaning "name".[6] Thus, it refers to two or more distinct concepts sharing the "same name" or signifier. Note: for the h sound, see rough breathing and smooth breathing.
Term | Meaning | Spelling | Pronunciation |
---|---|---|---|
Homonym | Different | Same | Same |
Homograph | Different | Same | Same or different |
Homophone | Different | Same or different | Same |
Heteronym | Different | Same | Different |
Heterograph | Different | Different | Same |
Polyseme | Different but related | Same | Same or different |
Capitonym | Different when capitalized |
Same except for capitalization |
Same or different |
Synonym | Same | Different | Different |
Synophone | Different | Different | Similar but not identical |
Several similar linguistic concepts are related to homonymy. These include:
A further example of a homonym, which is both a homophone and a homograph, is fluke. Fluke can mean:
These meanings represent at least three etymologically separate lexemes, but share the one form, fluke.*[8]
Similarly, a river bank, a savings bank, a bank of switches, and a bank shot in pool share a common spelling and pronunciation, but differ in meaning.
The words bow and bough are examples where there are two meanings associated with a single pronunciation and spelling (the weapon and the knot); two meanings with two different pronunciations (the knot and the act of bending at the waist), and two distinct meanings sharing the same sound but different spellings (bow, the act of bending at the waist, and bough, the branch of a tree). In addition, it has several related but distinct meanings – a bent line is sometimes called a 'bowed' line, reflecting its similarity to the weapon. Even according to the most restrictive definitions, various pairs of sounds and meanings of bow, Bow and bough are homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms, heterographs, capitonyms and are polysemous.
Homonymy can lead to communicative conflicts and thus trigger lexical (onomasiological) change.[9] This is known as homonymic conflict.
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