You who study the meaning of words, you know what it is homonymy?
We call homonymy the phenomenon of words that have the same phonological structure, the same phonemes, the same accentuation and yet they have completely divergent meanings!
The use situation, or the communicational context, will be responsible for the construction of meanings in the occurrence of homonymy, therefore, there will be no harm to the understanding of the message. Look at the examples:
They are Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals (sane = saint reduction)
Mark is a man they are, will not be fooled. (sane = sensible)
grammar classes they are important in the study of the Portuguese language. (are = inflection of the verb “to be”)
→The homonymous words are divided into three distinct types:
Homographic homonyms: are the same in writing and different in pronunciation. See some examples:
this (pronoun) |
this (cardinal point) |
government (noun) |
government (verb) |
|
wolf (animal) Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;) |
lobe (lower ear) |
homophone homonyms: are the same in pronunciation and different in writing and meaning. Examples:
check (money order) |
check (chess move) |
trip (noun) |
travel (flexion of the verb to travel) |
concert (symphonic composition) |
fix (repair, derivation of the verb fix) |
ascend (ascend, raise) |
ignite (turn on, set fire) |
perfect homonyms: Here is a case of perfect homonymy: homographic words are the same in writing and pronunciation, they have the same phonological structure and the same phonemes. Look at the examples:
cure (verb) |
cure (noun) |
early (verb) |
early (adverb) |
summer (verb) |
summer (noun) |
bank (financial institution) |
bench) |
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "What is homonymy?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/portugues/o-que-e-homonimia.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
