Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs: Oh me, Oh my!

As an editor, writer, linguist, and teacher, I’ve always been fascinated by language and how its speakers use the words in the lexicon. Questions I’ve often pondered about American English in particular include: what determines the number of syllables a word has; is there some formula hidden in the grammar of the language that, unbeknownst to its speakers, dictates syllabification? Do certain types of words have an even number of syllables while other, different types have an odd number of syllables? Why do we have so many words to mean almost the same thing? Why do some areas of the U.S.A. say “pop” for a carbonated beverage while others say “soda” or even “soda pop”?

I have found the answers to many of my questions; some are still left unanswered. Homonyms are one of those fascinating subjects, which, when researched, can immerse me in the mysteries of American English for hours.

Homonyms, such as, their or there, buy, by, or bye, and hundreds more, are often misused. Have you ever misused one? If you have, you're not alone! I have 30 years professional experience using the American English language, and I still get some homonyms confused. And, don’t count on the spell check feature of your software, because these words are spelled correctly! As I tell my ESL (English as a Second Language) students, when in doubt, look it up.

A quick perusal of the printed and online lexicons of the language yields these broad definitions of homonyms: Homonyms and homophones are one of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning (for example, to, too, two).

Confusion often reigns (note: not rains), however, about the difference betweenhomonyms and homophones. Whenever I need the definitive answer to something, I go to the experts: The Linguist List (http://linguistlist.org).

In answer to the question: What is a homonym? The Linguist List refers us to SIL International, which provides a Glossary of Linguistic Terms (at http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOflinguisticTerms/WhatIsAHomonym.htm). This glossary defines a homonym as “a word that has the same pronunciation as another. Homonyms differ from each other in:

• meaning
• origin, and
• usually spelling.”

However, the SIL glossary states that homonyms are also known, as, you guessed it,homophones! And, are “loosely” called homographs, which are words with the same spelling but different in meaning.
Let’s look at some examples they give:

• Words with the same pronunciation but different in meaning:
  • bore and boar (wait, what about boor?)
  • two and too
• Homographs:
  • bow: to bend
  • bow: a decorative knot

So, what about homophones? According to the glossary, a homophone is “a group of two or more letters representing the same speech sound, or a homonym.”
Let’s look at the examples they give:

• Letters with the same speech sound:
  • c in city
  • s in song
• Homonyms:
  • two and too

Hence, some homophones are also homonyms. Whereas homonyms focus on the meaning, origin, and, usually, spelling differences for the same sound, homophones focus on theletter differences with the same speech sound, and, homographs focus on the different meanings for the same spelling! It’s easy to see why native speakers of American English get confused about the trio, let alone those brave people who are trying to learn English as another language!

I find that when I am trying to make sense of the American English language, a table helps:

Word	Same Whole Word Sound	Same Spelling	Same Letter Sound	Same Meaning
Homonym	Yes	No, not usually	Yes	No
Homograph	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Homophone	No	No	Yes	No

I hope that helps. Either way, enjoy learning about homonyms. It's fun for anyone trying to get their pause paws on and clause claws into these pesky purls pearls and pares pearspairs!


Coach Sue

Write What YOU Know

My husband told me the other day about one of the soldiers in his National Guard unit who has just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. The soldier told my husband that after one evening of watching the American news for the first time since being back home, he turned to his wife and asked, “What have you people done with my country?”

My husband asked me to write about that. I responded, “I can’t do that; it’s not my experience, it’s his. Tell your soldier friend to start his own blog and write his story.”

That’s what writing is all about – you have to write about what you know. Only you can tell your experience with your passion for the subject. Only you really know what it is or was like to go through what you lived.

Let me give you another example. My 21-year-old son was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (known for short as Lupus SLE) when he was just 14 years old. What followed his diagnosis was five nightmare years of treatment, surgeries and too many nights in the emergency room or the hospital wondering if he would live to see the morning.

I can write about how it felt to be my teen son’s mother and caregiver. I can write about the toll that caregiving took on my body, my psyche, my soul. But, I cannot write about the experience from the perspective of the person whose body was being ravaged by this insidious and wicked disease. Only my son can write that story because that’s his story.

Both stories have value; both stories will help different groups of people. Both stories must be told.

That’s what I believe, very strongly: you must tell your story. If you don’t, no one else will. And if your story is not told, the world loses because your story happened so that you could share it and through its telling, help many others who need to read what it was like for you to live that story so they can make it through their own story with the faith, courage, and strength that they gain from reading what you wrote.

So go tell your story with all your passion and soul. The world is waiting.

Coach Sue

Common Problems in Sales Proposals

The Sales Proposal can make or break a company’s or entrepreneur’s bottom line. That’s why it is so important to make sure this document is perfect before you sign it and send it to your prospect. Today, I will highlight two of the most common reasons why perfectsales proposals don’t go to prospects.

First, multiple authors resulting in multiple writing styles can send multiple messages to your prospect. Make sure you have an editor review the entire documentbefore sending it to your prospect. The editor should be someone other than one of the content writers. This guideline ensures that the editor is an objective party and one who has not seen the content so much that they miss crucial inconsistencies.

Second, not achieving the purpose of the cover letter confuses your prospective client. In your cover letter, you should tell your prospective client what you will do for them. The body of your sales proposal, then, details how you plan to deliver your promise. Many times, proposal writers go off track from the original intent as stated in the cover letter. Making an outline for the proposal body will ensure that you stick with the original proposal theme.

For a free booklet, Top 6 Reasons Sales Proposals Don’t Win the Job, email sue at thewriterscottage dot com.

Happy Writing!

Coach Sue