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