Homograph

<h2 id="in-english">In English</h2>
<p>Examples:
</p>
<ul><li><i>sow</i> (verb) /soʊ/ – to plant seed</li></ul>
<i>sow</i> (noun) /saʊ/ – female pig
<p>where the words are <a href="/facts/Heteronym_(linguistics)/z2yMhbou">heteronyms</a>, spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but could occur in written language.
</p>
<ul><li><i>bear</i> (verb) – to support or carry</li></ul>
<i>bear</i> (noun) –  the animal
<p>where the words are <a href="/facts/Homonyms/2GFCuaCa">homonyms</a>, identical in spelling and pronunciation (/bɛər/), but different in meaning and grammatical function.
</p><p>The above examples are of <a href="/facts/Etymologically/18QG6y67">etymologically</a> unrelated words. Some homographs are also <a href="/facts/Doublet_(linguistics)/REcllMJF">etymological doublets</a>, meaning they come from the same source and are spelt the same way in Modern English, but their distinct meanings are tied to their distinct pronunciations:
</p>
<ul><li><i>Dominican</i> /dəˈmɪnɪkən/ – of the <a href="/facts/Dominican_Order/n9l5y8Yk">Dominican Order</a> or the <a href="/facts/Dominican_Republic/u36V3Nsb">Dominican Republic</a> (fully anglicized, based on the <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> pronunciation of <i>Dominicus</i> [dɔˈmɪnɪkʊs], named for <a href="/facts/Saint_Dominic/CELc54t2">Saint Dominic</a>)</li></ul>
<i>Dominican</i> /ˌdɒmɪˈniːkən/ – of <a href="/facts/Dominica/suCgsaVj">Dominica</a> (slightly modified from the Spanish pronunciation of <i>Dominica</i> [ðomiˈnika], named for Latin <i>diēs Dominica</i> [ˈdjjɛːs dɔˈmɪnɪka] meaning "the <a href="/facts/Lord%27s_Day/A7nl284w">Lord's Day</a>" or "Sunday")
<p>Both words ultimately come from Latin <i>dominicus</i> [dɔˈmɪnɪkʊs] meaning "of the Lord."
</p>
<ul><li><i>violist</i> /ˈvaɪəlɪst/ – <a href="/facts/Viol/D9tPMTkd">viol</a> player</li></ul>
<i>violist</i> /viˈoʊlɪst/ – <a href="/facts/Viola/l869ofuf">viola</a> player
<p>Both <i>viol</i> and <i>viola</i> come from Latin <i>vitula</i>.
</p>
<h3>More examples</h3>
<p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_English_homographs/GfQC4SKA">List of English homographs</a></p>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Word</th><th>Example of first meaning</th><th>Example of second meaning</th></tr><tr><td>lead</td><td>Gold is denser than  lead /lɛd/.</td><td>The mother duck will lead /liːd/ her ducklings around.</td></tr><tr><td>close</td><td>"Will you please close /kloʊz/ that door!"</td><td>The tiger was now so close /kloʊs/ that I could smell it...</td></tr><tr><td>wind</td><td>The wind /wɪnd/ howled through the woodlands.</td><td>Wind /waɪnd/ your watch.</td></tr><tr><td>minute</td><td>I will be there in a minute /ˈmɪnɪt/.</td><td>That is a very minute /maɪˈnuːt///maɪˈnjuːt/ amount.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="in-chinese">In Chinese</h2>
<p>Many Chinese <a href="/facts/Variety_(linguistics)/QyllMQha">varieties</a> have homographs, called 多音字 (<a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>duōyīnzì</i>) or 重形字 (<a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>chóngxíngzì</i>), 破音字 (<a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>pòyīnzì</i>).
</p>
<h3>Old Chinese</h3>
<p>Modern study of <a href="/facts/Old_Chinese/913bNFLp">Old Chinese</a> has found patterns that suggest a system of <a href="/facts/Affix/MKeAIE7e">affixes</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> One pattern is the addition of the <a href="/facts/Prefix/C4Lw8npg">prefix</a> /*ɦ/, which turns <a href="/facts/Transitive_verbs/3TtAs9FH">transitive verbs</a> into <a href="/facts/Intransitive_verb/W4TRD0n5">intransitive</a> or <a href="/facts/Passive_voice/9lpHvV33">passives</a> in some cases:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Word</th><th>Pronunciationa</th><th>Meaninga</th><th>Pronunciationb</th><th>Meaningb</th></tr><tr><td>見<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></td><td>*kens</td><td>see</td><td>*ɦkens</td><td>appear</td></tr><tr><td>敗<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></td><td>*prats</td><td>defeat</td><td>*ɦprats</td><td>be defeated</td></tr><tr><td colspan="5">All data from Baxter, 1992.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Another pattern is the use of a /*s/ <a href="/facts/Suffix/Nlnft3NK">suffix</a>, which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from <a href="/facts/Noun/SsnDNfkX">nouns</a>:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Word</th><th>Pronunciationa</th><th>Meaninga</th><th>Pronunciationb</th><th>Meaningb</th></tr><tr><td>傳</td><td>*dron</td><td>transmit</td><td>*drons</td><td>(n.) record</td></tr><tr><td>磨</td><td>*maj</td><td>grind</td><td>*majs</td><td>grindstone</td></tr><tr><td>塞</td><td>*sɨk</td><td>(v.) block</td><td>*sɨks</td><td>border, frontier</td></tr><tr><td>衣</td><td>*ʔjɨj</td><td>clothing</td><td>*ʔjɨjs</td><td>wear, clothe</td></tr><tr><td>王</td><td>*wjaŋ</td><td>king</td><td>*wjaŋs</td><td>be king</td></tr><tr><td colspan="5">All data from Baxter, 1992.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3>Middle Chinese</h3>
<p>Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in <a href="/facts/Middle_Chinese/zQNbA7H7">Middle Chinese</a>. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:
</p>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Word</th><th>Pronunciationa</th><th>Meaninga</th><th>Pronunciationb</th><th>Meaningb</th></tr><tr><td>易</td><td>/jĭe꜄/</td><td>easy</td><td>/jĭɛk꜆/</td><td>(v.) change</td></tr><tr><td>別</td><td>/bĭɛt꜆/</td><td>(v.) part</td><td>/pĭɛt꜆/</td><td>differentiate, other</td></tr><tr><td>上</td><td>/꜂ʑĭaŋ/</td><td>rise, give</td><td>/ʑĭaŋ꜄/</td><td>above, top, emperor</td></tr><tr><td>長</td><td>/꜀dʲʱĭaŋ/</td><td>long</td><td>/꜂tʲĭaŋ/</td><td>lengthen, elder</td></tr><tr><td colspan="5">Reconstructed phonology from <a href="/facts/Wang_Li_(linguist)/QxBTD0cI">Wang Li</a> on the tables in the article <a href="/facts/Middle_Chinese/zQNbA7H7">Middle Chinese</a>. <a href="/facts/Tone_name/8suEtWFc">Tone names</a> in terms of <i>level</i> (꜀平), <i>rising</i> (꜂上), <i>departing</i> (去꜄), and <i>entering</i> (入꜆) are given. All meanings and their respective pronunciations from Wang et al., 2000.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3>Modern Chinese</h3>
<p>Many homographs in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese also exist in modern <a href="/facts/Chinese_language/771ruUY1">Chinese</a> varieties. Homographs which did not exist in Old Chinese or Middle Chinese often come into existence due to differences between <a href="/facts/Literary_and_colloquial_readings_of_Chinese_characters/rTthClu8">literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters</a>. Other homographs may have been created due to merging two different characters into the same glyph during script reform (See <a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Simplified Chinese characters</a> and <a href="/facts/Shinjitai/INJkgsTT">Shinjitai</a>).
</p><p>Some examples of homographs in <a href="/facts/Cantonese/y5UhgScP">Cantonese</a> from Middle Chinese are:
</p>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Word</th><th>Pronunciationa</th><th>Meaninga</th><th>Pronunciationb</th><th>Meaningb</th></tr><tr><td>易</td><td>[jiː˨]</td><td>easy</td><td>[jɪk˨]</td><td>(v.) change</td></tr><tr><td>上</td><td>[ɕœːŋ˩˧]</td><td>rise, give</td><td>[ɕœːŋ˨]</td><td>above, top, emperor</td></tr><tr><td>長</td><td>[tɕʰœːŋ˨˩]</td><td>long</td><td>[tɕœːŋ˧˥]</td><td>lengthen, elder</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Linguistics portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Synonym/a3BgMcdu">Synonym</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Interlingual_homograph/IUKn8151">Interlingual homograph</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/IDN_homograph_attack/oU1PyDpw">IDN homograph attack</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Syncretism_(linguistics)/StmXPGap">Syncretism (linguistics)</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/False_friend/y1vkwpyo">False friend</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li>Drury, Donald A. (1969). <a href="https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=wordways">"Homographs and Pseudo-Homographs"</a>. <i><a href="/facts/Word_Ways:_The_Journal_of_Recreational_Linguistics/dUuXJ8X1">Word Ways</a></i>. 2 (3): 146–154.</li>
<li>Ryan, William M. (1968). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/454547">"Affixes and the Making of Homographs and Homonyms"</a>. <i>American Speech</i>. 43 (2): 138–141. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F454547">10.2307/454547</a>. <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0003-1283">0003-1283</a>.<</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Look up <i>homograph</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"homograph". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fifth ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – via The Free Dictionary. 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 [/wɪnd/] and wind [/waɪnd/] <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/homograph" target="_blank">https://www.thefreedictionary.com/homograph</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Hobbs, James (2006-08-04). Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary, 4th ed. McFarland. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-7864-2488-7. <a href="978-0-7864-2488-7" target="_blank">978-0-7864-2488-7</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Oxford English Dictionary: homograph. <a href="/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" target="_blank">/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Atkins, BTS.; Rundell, M., The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography, OUP Oxford, 2008, 
pp. 192 - 193. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=H0rc_cnr3NYC&dq=homograph+dictionary&pg=PA192" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=H0rc_cnr3NYC&dq=homograph+dictionary&pg=PA192</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Norman, Jerry (1988). Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-521-22809-1. <a href="978-0-521-22809-1" target="_blank">978-0-521-22809-1</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>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. <a href="978-3-11-012324-1" target="_blank">978-3-11-012324-1</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>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. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>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. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>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. <a href="978-3-11-012324-1" target="_blank">978-3-11-012324-1</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>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. <a href="978-3-11-012324-1" target="_blank">978-3-11-012324-1</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>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. <a href="978-3-11-012324-1" target="_blank">978-3-11-012324-1</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>Wang Li; et al. (2000). 王力古漢語字典. Beijing: 中華書局. ISBN 7-101-01219-1. <a href="7-101-01219-1" target="_blank">7-101-01219-1</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Homograph open-in-new

Homograph