homonymy are words that have the same spelling or pronunciation, but with different meanings each other.
Homonymy is included in the semantic studies of the Portuguese language. Etymologically, this term arose from the Greek homos, which means “equal”, and onymon, which means “name”.
Types of homonyms
There are three main types of homonyms:
- Homographic homonyms: are the words with the same spelling, but with different pronunciation and meanings. Example: “taste” (noun) and “taste” (verb to like) / “este” (cardinal point) and “este” (demonstrative pronoun).
- Homophone homonyms: they are words that are identical in pronunciation but different in spelling and meaning. Example: “session” (time period) and “section” (department) / “cell” (noun) and “saddle” (verb).
- Perfect homonyms: they are words with the same spelling and pronunciation, but with different meanings. Example: “summer” (verb) and “summer” (noun) / “early” (verb) and “early” (adverb). Homonymy and Paronymy Homonymy and Polysemy Learn about the meaning of polysemy.
Homonymy and Paronymy
Many people confuse homonyms with paronyms in semantic classification, but there is a subtle difference between the two definitions.
The homonymous words are those that have exactly the same spelling or pronunciation, but with different meanings.
However, the paronym words are those that resemble in spelling or pronunciation, also having distinct meanings.
For example, the terms "description" and "discretion" have nearly identical spelling and pronunciation and are thus classified as paronyms.
Homonymy and Polysemy
The definition of homonymous and polysemic words are quite confused.
A polysemic word is one that has several different meanings. For example, the word “letter” is polysemic, as it can mean the basic element of the alphabet, an individual's handwriting or the text of a song.
The terms classified as homonyms are two or more words, with different origins and meanings, but with the same spelling or pronunciation.
The word “grass”, for example, can be either a unit of mass or a synonym for grass.
What makes this term homonymous and not polysemic is the fact that the word does not have the same etymological origin for both meanings, even though it has identical pronunciation and spelling.
Learn more about the meaning of polysemy.