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Kovalenko_lexicology

2.4 Homonymy and paronymy Definition of Homonyms / Origins of Homonyms / Partial Homonyms / Homographs / Homophones / Capitonyms / Heterologues / Stylistic use of Homonyms / Paronyms

A homonym is a word that has the same pronunciation and spelling as another word, but a different meaning. For example:

2) noun, a sea fish with a large broad flat body and a long tail, that is used for food;

3) noun, in music the second note of a major scale.

2) noun, in music the third note of a major scale.

2) noun, a low island or sandbanks, as the Florida Keys.

2) noun, the choke of an artichoke.

2) adj, happy and satisfied with what you have.

There are several ways in which homonyms appear in language:

  1. The most common one is when homonyms are the result of a coincidence of phonetic changes in two semantically unrelated words. Thus, the nouns flaw (a crack or fault) and flaw (a gust of wind) have a different origin, but are spelt and pronounced in the same way in contemporary English. Similarly, sea and see sound in the same way in Modern English as the result of a phonetic reduction of the Old English verb sene (see) (Верба, 2008).

  2. One of the homonyms may be borrowed from another language, or both of them may have different foreign origins. Thus, the adjective male (masculine) came to the English language from Latin (masculus) through Old French in the 14th century; mail (the system of delivery) was borrowed into English from Old French male (bag) in the 13th century; mail (an iron mesh-like garment used to protect a warrior) was borrowed in the 14th century from Old French maille (mesh), which itself derives from the Latin macula (spot); mail (a monetary payment, esp. of rent or taxes) comes from Old English mal (terms, agreement) (Верба, 2008). Similarly, the adjective worst (the superlative degree of bad) is coincidentally homophonous with the noun wurst (sausage) that has German origin.

  3. One of the homonyms may have an onomatopoeic origin, or be an exclamation like in the pair hey (an exclamation used to draw attention) and hey (a kind of country dance, another spelling is hay).

  4. The most productive and historically most complicated factor of homonym origin is semantic cleft of originally single word. The difficulty here lies in the fact that separation of lexical meanings is a process, extended in time, it occurs gradually, and, thus, different linguists and dictionaries may treat the same cases either as polysemes or as homonyms. The difference between homonyms and polysemes is subtle. Semantic shift can separate a polysemous word into separate homonyms. For example, check (bank check, also spelled cheque for disambiguation), check in chess and check (verification) are considered homonyms, while they originated as a single word derived from chess in the 14th century (Nym Words, 2010). Bank-mound, bank-financial institution and river bank have a common origin as well, the Gothic word benc, which originally referred to a small mound. Later it was used metaphorically for river bank, and also as a metaphor for a low table, especially those where bankers used to exchange money, which gave Italian banca, French banque, and English bank. Bankruptcy originates in banqueroute, i.e. "bank on the road".

The difficulty in telling polysemes from homonyms in certain cases brings some scholars to the concept of homonyms as having different origins. Though, there are cases when it is hard to trace the word’s etymology. Moreover, treating homonyms in this way would shift the notion of homonymy into the domain of historical lexicology. At the same time, drawing a line between related meanings and the meanings, that, although expressed by the same graphic or phonetic form, still have nothing in common, is the problem that belongs not only to the domain of pure linguistic theory, but also to the sphere of lexicography, which deals with contemporary language.

Homonyms may be full and partial. Full homonyms (homonyms proper) coincide in spelling and pronunciation in all grammatical forms (farmer's bull and a papal bull). Partial homonyms coincide only in separate forms. Thus, the noun saw (a tool that has a long blade with sharp points used for cutting wood or metal) is a partial homonym for saw (the Past Simple form of the verb to see). A large group of partial homonyms have appeared in the English language due to conversion, a very productive word-building mechanism. When a verb is derived from an adjective or a noun, or, quite opposite, a noun is derived from a verb, a pair of homonyms appears, while the two words differ in paradigm. Compare: a dress – two dresses vs dress – dressed – dressing; clean – cleaner – the cleanest vs clean – cleaned – cleaning.

There are several other types of partial homonyms:

A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word, but a different meaning and pronunciation, like lead /led/ (heavy soft grey metal) and lead /li:d/ (to go with or in front of a person or animal to show the way or to make them go in the right direction), the wind /wind/ in the trees and roads that wind /waind/; or at least a different stress, like desert (abandon), where the last syllable is stressed, and desert (arid region), where the initial syllable is stressed.

A homophone is a word that has the same pronunciation as another word, but whose meaning and spelling are different, like to, too, and two; there and their; week and weak; air and heir; gilt and guilt.

Capitonyms are words that are spelled in the same way but have different meanings when capitalised (and may or may not have different pronunciations) – for example, polish (to make shiny) and Polish (from Poland).

Heterologues (the interpreter’s false friends) are words in different languages that have same spelling and / or pronunciation but have different meanings. For example, the English adjective sympathetic and Ukrainian симпатичний are heterologues. False friends may cause misunderstanding in translation and communication. Here are some more examples: the Spanish word sensible means sensitive in English, the German word gift means poison, Italian domanda and French demande mean a question or request, but not a strong demand at all, English actual means real, while German aktuell means up-to-date.

Compare some more English – Ukrainian false friends: accurate – акуратний, artist – артист, auditorium – аудиторія, cabinet – кабінет, compositor – композитор, conductor – кондуктор, decoration – декорація, gymnasium – гімназія, intelligent – інтелігентний, magazine – магазин, mark – марка, novel – новела, operator – оператор, physique – фізик, prospect – проспект.

“The best part about homonyms, though, is that they are the raw material for puns, a truly sublime form of humour” (Cooper, 2001). The humorous effect in the following poem is achieved by means of using homophones:

His death, which happen'd in his berth,

At forty-odd befell:

They went and told the sexton, and

The sexton toll'd the bell

(Thomas Hood, "Faithless Sally Brown" ) (Wikipedia, 2009).

The author of the poem uses the word berth, homophonous to birth, that is in its turn potentially antonymous to the word death, which not only suggests a kind of an ironic effect to the poem, but also gives it a second layer of meaning. Thus, in fact, the hero of the poem died at forty-something in his berth, but at the same time the author suggests that he was actually born dead, in a figurative sense.

Told (from tell) and toll’d (a form of tolled, from toll) are partial homonyms, that are homophonous only in the form of Past Simple. The ironic effect is achieved by a suggestion that the sexton didn’t actually toll the bell, but spoke to it telling about the hero’s death.

Paronyms are words that have slight differences in spelling or pronunciation and have different meanings. Structurally, paronyms can be divided into two groups:

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