Homonyms are different words that sound alike. Like
pear and pair. And pare. These
words are spelled differently but sound the same. The
English language is riddled with such aural ambiguities.
But to someone for whom English is not his/her first
language, it's much worse than that, as there are plenty
of words that are spelled, and thus look, the same but sound
different! These visually ambiguous words are homographs.
(but see update at bottom)
Consider the word tear. Does it rhyme with pear/pair/pare?
Or with hear/here? Tear is not only a homograph, but
half of the homograph also happens to be a homonym with tier.
But I digress...
Or do I? Tier is also a homograph! It can rhyme with
with hear/here. But it can also rhyme with "dyer". (Just
as someone who dyes is a dyer, someone who ties is a tier!)
Which sounds dangerously close to "tire". (But I digress!)
So, are you still with me on this? And can you imagine what
fun the world will be once it's run by computers that respond
to commands spoken (read[!] aloud) in English?
The following list was assembled purely for fun. There are,
however, folks who take this stuff much more seriously than I.
So if you're looking for some kind of seriously comprehensive
list, you might want to check out this one.
BASS
ABSENT
The somewhat-flexible 'rule' used in compiling this list was
this: if you can't tell what word it is, how to pronounce
it, by reading it alone, then it may be a homograph. Sometimes
a word is pronounced differently depending upon whether it is
a verb or a noun (eg: house). Differing pronunciations of the
same word, however, do not qualify it for inclusion (eg: often).
Also disqualified are words that have more than one meaning but
are both spelled and pronounced the same (ie, club [someone actually
submitted that one to me!]).
I have chosen to leave off some words that technically are homographs but whose
differing pronunciations are so close that no one would notice --
much less look at you funny -- if you used the wrong one. I also have a bit of
a problem with proper nouns (anyone can make up a name and pronounce it any way
they designate) and foreign words (whose spelling in English is not defined, particularly
when the other language uses a completely different character set!). I suppose if the word
"nice" began a sentence, it could be confused with Nice(, France), but I think that's a bit of
a stretch. This list is really about the English language's ambiguities, hence the absence
of, for example, the Hebrew letter lamed.
Lee Gray of Mount Union College pointed out that
true homographs must also have different origins. So those
verb/non-verb semi-homographs have been moved to their own
sub-list. Thanks to all who've
contributed to
both lists.
While many folks seem to know what homonyms are, too few
are cognizant of homoGRAPHs!
ENGLISH HOMOGRAPHS:
BOW(S)
BUFFET
COAX
CLOSE
COMPOUND(S)
CONVERSE
DESERT
DIVERS
DOES
DOVE
ENTRANCE(S)
EXCISE
HARE
INTIMATE
INVALID
LAME
LEAD
LUGER(S)
MANES
MARE(S)
MINUTE
OBJECT(S)
PATENT
POLISH
PRESENT
PRIMER(S)
PROJECT(S)
PUSSY
PUTTING
RAVEN
RE
REFUSE
RESIGN(S)
RESUME(S)
ROW(S)
SEWER(S)
SHOWER(S)
SLAVER
SOW(S)
SYNDICATE(S)
TAXIS
TEAR(S)
TIER(S)
TOWER(S)
VIOLA(S)
WIND(S)
WOUND
SEMI-HOMOGRAPHS:
ABSTRACT
ABUSE(S)
ADDRESS(ES)
ADVOCATE(S)
AGGREGATE
APPROPRIATE
APPROXIMATE
ARTICULATE
ASSOCIATE(S)
ATTRIBUTE(S)
COMBAT
COMBINE(S)
COMPACT(S)
COMPLEX
CONDUCT
CONFINES
CONFLICT(S)
CONSORT
CONSTRUCT(S)
CONTENT
CONTEST(S)
CONTRACT(S)
CONSUMMATE
CONVERT(S)
CONVICT(S)
COORDINATE(S)
DECREASE(S)
DEFECT(S)
DEGENERATE(S)
DELEGATE(S)
DELIBERATE
DISCHARGE
DOGGED
EJACULATE
ELABORATE
ESCORT(S)
EXCUSE(S)
ESTIMATE(S)
EXTRACT(S)
GRADUATE(S)
HOUSE(S)
IMPLANT(S)
IMPORT(S)
INCLINE(S)
LAMINATE(S)
LEARNED
LEGITIMATE
LIVE(S)
[-]LIVED
MEDIATE(S)
MOBILE (3)
MODERATE(S)
MOUTH
OFFENSE(S)
PERFECT
PERMIT(S)
PREDICATE(S)
PRODUCE
PROGRESS
PROTEST(S)
READ (mis-, proof-)
RECALL(S)
RECORD(S)
REDRESS
REJECT(S)
RETARD(S)
RETREAD(S)
ROUTE(S)
SEPARATE
SUBJECT(S)
SUSPECT(S)
TORMENT(S)
UPSET(S)
USE(S)
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