A homograph (from the Greek: ὁμός, homós, "same" and γράφω, gráphō, "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning.[1] However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently,[2] while the Oxford English Dictionary says that the words should also be of "different origin".[3] In this vein, The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography lists various types of homographs, including those in which the words are discriminated by being in a different word class, such as hit, the verb to strike, and hit, the noun a blow.[4]
Venn diagram showing the relationships between homographs (yellow) and related linguistic concepts
If, when spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations, the words are also heteronyms. Words with the same writing and pronunciation (i.e. are both homographs and homophones) are considered homonyms. However, in a broader sense the term "homonym" may be applied to words with the same writing or pronunciation. Homograph disambiguation is critically important in speech synthesis, natural language processing and other fields. Identically written different senses of what is judged to be fundamentally the same word are called polysemes; for example, wood (substance) and wood (area covered with trees).
where the two words are spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but could occur in written language.
bear (verb) – to support or carry
bear (noun) – the animal
where the words are identical in spelling and pronunciation (/bɛər/), but differ in meaning and grammatical function. These are called homonyms.
Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in Middle Chinese. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:
Word
Pronunciationa
Meaninga
Pronunciationb
Meaningb
易
/jĭe꜄/
easy
/jĭɛk꜆/
(v.) change
別
/bĭɛt꜆/
(v.) part
/pĭɛt꜆/
differentiate, other
上
/꜂ʑĭaŋ/
rise, give
/ʑĭaŋ꜄/
above, top, emperor
長
/꜀dʲʱĭaŋ/
long
/꜂tʲĭaŋ/
lengthen, elder
Reconstructed phonology from Wang Li on the tables in the article Middle Chinese. Tone names in terms of level (꜀平), rising (꜂上), departing (去꜄), and entering (入꜆) are given. All meanings and their respective pronunciations from Wang et al., 2000.[9]
Modern Chinese
Many homographs in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese also exist in modern Chinese varieties. Homographs which did not exist in Old Chinese or Middle Chinese often come into existence due to differences between literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters. Other homographs may have been created due to merging two different characters into the same glyph during script reform (See Simplified Chinese characters and Shinjitai).
Some examples of homographs in Cantonese from Middle Chinese are:
^ "One of two or more words that have the same spelling but differ in origin, meaning, and sometimes pronunciation, such as fair (pleasing in appearance) and fair (market) or wind (wĭnd) and wind (wīnd)".
^Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary, 4th ed., McFarland, 2006, p. 3.
^ abcdBaxter, William H. (1992). A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs). Berlin and New York: de Gruyter Mouton. pp. 218–220. ISBN978-3-11-012324-1.
^The two meanings were later distinguished through the means of radicals, so that 見 ('to see', Std. Mand. jiàn) was unchanged, while 見 ('to appear', Std. Mand. xiàn) came to be written as 現.
^This distinction was preserved in Middle Chinese using voiced and unvoiced initials. Thus, 敗 (transitive, 'to defeat') was read as 北邁切 (Baxter, paejH), while 敗 (intransitive, 'to collapse; be defeated') was read as 薄邁切 (Baxter, baejH). 《增韻》：凡物不自敗而敗之，則北邁切。物自毀壞，則薄邁切。Modern Wu dialects (e.g., Shanghainese, Suzhounese), which preserve the three-way Middle Chinese contrast between voiced/aspirated/unaspirated initials, do not appear to preserve this distinction.
Look up homograph in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
May 03, 2023
homograph, this, article, about, grammatical, typographical, sense, homoglyph, geometrical, sense, examples, perspective, this, article, deal, primarily, with, english, language, chinese, language, represent, worldwide, view, subject, improve, this, article, d. This article is about the grammatical use For the typographical sense see Homoglyph For the geometrical sense see Homography The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the English language and the Chinese language and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate September 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message A homograph from the Greek ὁmos homos same and grafw graphō write is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning 1 However some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently 2 while the Oxford English Dictionary says that the words should also be of different origin 3 In this vein The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography lists various types of homographs including those in which the words are discriminated by being in a different word class such as hit the verb to strike and hit the noun a blow 4 Venn diagram showing the relationships between homographs yellow and related linguistic concepts If when spoken the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations the words are also heteronyms Words with the same writing and pronunciation i e are both homographs and homophones are considered homonyms However in a broader sense the term homonym may be applied to words with the same writing or pronunciation Homograph disambiguation is critically important in speech synthesis natural language processing and other fields Identically written different senses of what is judged to be fundamentally the same word are called polysemes for example wood substance and wood area covered with trees Contents 1 In English 1 1 More examples 2 In Chinese 2 1 Old Chinese 2 2 Middle Chinese 2 3 Modern Chinese 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksIn English EditExamples sow verb s oʊ to plant seedsow noun s aʊ female pigwhere the two words are spelt identically but pronounced differently Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but could occur in written language bear verb to support or carrybear noun the animalwhere the words are identical in spelling and pronunciation b ɛer but differ in meaning and grammatical function These are called homonyms More examples Edit Main article List of English homographs Word Example of first meaning Example of second meaninglead Gold is heavier than lead l ɛ d The mother duck will lead l iː d her ducklings around close Will you please close k l oʊ z that door The tiger was now so close k l oʊ s that I could smell it wind The wind w ɪ n d howled through the woodlands Wind w aɪ n d your watch minute I will be there in a minute ˈ m ɪ n ɪ t That is a very minute m aɪ ˈ nj uː t amount In Chinese EditMany Chinese varieties have homographs called 多音字 pinyin duōyinzi or 重形字 pinyin chongxingzi 破音字 pinyin poyinzi Old Chinese Edit Modern study of Old Chinese has found patterns that suggest a system of affixes 5 One pattern is the addition of the prefix ɦ which turns transitive verbs into intransitive or passives in some cases 6 Word Pronunciationa Meaninga Pronunciationb Meaningb見 7 kens see ɦkens appear敗 8 prats defeat ɦprats be defeatedAll data from Baxter 1992 6 Another pattern is the use of a s suffix which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from nouns 6 Word Pronunciationa Meaninga Pronunciationb Meaningb傳 dron transmit drons n record磨 maj grind majs grindstone塞 sɨk v block sɨks border frontier衣 ʔjɨj clothing ʔjɨjs wear clothe王 wjaŋ king wjaŋs be kingAll data from Baxter 1992 6 Middle Chinese Edit Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in Middle Chinese Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are Word Pronunciationa Meaninga Pronunciationb Meaningb易 jĭe easy jĭɛk v change別 bĭɛt v part pĭɛt differentiate other上 ʑĭaŋ rise give ʑĭaŋ above top emperor長 dʲʱĭaŋ long tʲĭaŋ lengthen elderReconstructed phonology from Wang Li on the tables in the article Middle Chinese Tone names in terms of level 平 rising 上 departing 去 and entering 入 are given All meanings and their respective pronunciations from Wang et al 2000 9 Modern Chinese Edit Many homographs in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese also exist in modern Chinese varieties Homographs which did not exist in Old Chinese or Middle Chinese often come into existence due to differences between literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters Other homographs may have been created due to merging two different characters into the same glyph during script reform See Simplified Chinese characters and Shinjitai Some examples of homographs in Cantonese from Middle Chinese are Word Pronunciationa Meaninga Pronunciationb Meaningb易 jiː easy jɪk v change上 ɕœːŋ rise give ɕœːŋ above top emperor長 tɕʰœːŋ long tɕœːŋ lengthen elderSee also Edit Linguistics portalSynonym Interlingual homograph IDN homograph attack Syncretism linguistics False friendReferences Edit One of two or more words that have the same spelling but differ in origin meaning and sometimes pronunciation such as fair pleasing in appearance and fair market or wind wĭnd and wind wind Homophones and Homographs An American Dictionary 4th ed McFarland 2006 p 3 Oxford English Dictionary homograph Atkins BTS Rundell M The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography OUP Oxford 2008 pp 192 193 Norman Jerry 1988 Chinese Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 84 ISBN 978 0 521 22809 1 a b c d Baxter William H 1992 A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs Berlin and New York de Gruyter Mouton pp 218 220 ISBN 978 3 11 012324 1 The two meanings were later distinguished through the means of radicals so that 見 to see Std Mand jian was unchanged while 見 to appear Std Mand xian came to be written as 現 This distinction was preserved in Middle Chinese using voiced and unvoiced initials Thus 敗 transitive to defeat was read as 北邁切 Baxter paejH while 敗 intransitive to collapse be defeated was read as 薄邁切 Baxter baejH 增韻 凡物不自敗而敗之 則北邁切 物自毀壞 則薄邁切 Modern Wu dialects e g Shanghainese Suzhounese which preserve the three way Middle Chinese contrast between voiced aspirated unaspirated initials do not appear to preserve this distinction Wang Li et al 2000 王力古漢語字典 Beijing 中華書局 ISBN 7 101 01219 1 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint uses authors parameter link External links Edit Look up homograph in Wiktionary the free dictionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Homograph amp oldid 1144460053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
