Homograph
Encyclopedia
A homograph is a word
or a group of words that share the same written form but have different meanings. When spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations, in which case the words are also heteronym
s. Words with the same writing and pronunciation (i.e. homograph
s and homophone
s) are considered homonym
s. However, in a looser 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).
In (1) the words are identical in spelling and pronunciation (i.e. they are also homophones), but differ in meaning and grammatical function.
(2) is an example of two words spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but can occasionally occur in written language.
have homographs, called or , .
has found patterns that suggest a system of affix
es. One pattern is the addition of the prefix
/*ɦ/, which turns transitive verbs into intransitive
or passives
in some cases:
Another pattern is the use of a /*s/ suffix
, which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from nouns:
. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:
. 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
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
or a group of words that share the same written form but have different meanings. When spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations, in which case the words are also heteronym
Heteronym (linguistics)
In linguistics, heteronyms are words that are written identically but have different pronunciations and meanings. In other words, they are homographs that are not homophones. Thus, row and row are heteronyms, but mean and mean are not...
s. Words with the same writing and pronunciation (i.e. homograph
Homograph
A homograph is a word or a group of words that share the same written form but have different meanings. When spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations, in which case the words are also heteronyms. Words with the same writing and pronunciation A homograph (from the ,...
s and homophone
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
s) are considered homonym
Homonym
In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
s. However, in a looser sense the term "homonym" may be applied to words with the same writing or pronunciation. Homograph disambiguation is critically important in speech synthesis
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
, natural language processing
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
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).
In English
Examples:- bear (verb) – to support or carry
- bear (noun) – the animal
In (1) the words are identical in spelling and pronunciation (i.e. they are also homophones), but differ in meaning and grammatical function.
- sow (verb) – to plant seed
- sow (noun) – female pig
(2) is an example of two words spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but can occasionally occur in written language.
More examples
| Word | Example of first meaning | Example of second meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lead | Gold is heavier than lead. | The mother duck can lead her ducklings around. |
| close | "Will you please close that door!" | The tiger was now so close that I could smell it... |
| wind | The wind howled through the woodlands. | Wind your watch. |
In Chinese
Many Chinese varietiesVariety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
have homographs, called or , .
Old Chinese
Modern study of Old ChineseOld Chinese
The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....
has found patterns that suggest a system of affix
Affix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es. One pattern is the addition of the prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
/*ɦ/, which turns transitive verbs into intransitive
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
or passives
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
in some cases:
| Word | Pronunciationa | Meaninga | Pronunciationb | Meaningb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 見 | *kens | see | *ɦkens | appear |
| 敗 | *prats | defeat | *ɦprats | be defeated |
| All data from Baxter, 1992. | ||||
Another pattern is the use of a /*s/ suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
, which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from nouns:
| 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 king |
| All data from Baxter, 1992. | ||||
Middle Chinese
Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in Middle ChineseMiddle Chinese
Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties...
. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:
| Word | Pronunciationa | Meaninga | Pronunciationb | Meaningb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 易 | /jĭe去/ | easy | /jĭɛk入/ | (v.) change |
| 別 | /bĭɛt入/ | (v.) part | /pĭɛt入/ | differentiate, other |
| 上 | /ʑĭaŋ上/ | rise, give | /ʑĭaŋ去/ | above, top, emperor |
| 長 | /dʲʱĭaŋ平/ | long | /tʲĭaŋ上/ | lengthen, elder |
| Reconstructed phonology from Wang Li on the tables in the article Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties... . Tone name Tone name In the Chinese and Vietnamese languages, tone names are the names given to the tones these languages use.*In Chinese, tone names are given in terms of the four tones, namely level , rising , departing , and entering , as well as dark and light , and high and low .* Standard Vietnamese has six... s 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. |
||||
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 charactersLiterary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters
Differing literary and colloquial readings of certain Chinese characters are common doublets in many Chinese languages and the reading distinctions for certain phonetic features often typify a dialect group...
. 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
Shinjitai
Shinjitai are the forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in shinjitai are also found in simplified Chinese, but shinjitai is generally not as extensive in the scope of its modification...
).
Some examples of homographs in Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
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, elder |