You know what it is homonymy? If your answer is no, know that despite having this strange name, homonymy is a very common phenomenon.
Homonymy characterizes two words that have the same spelling or pronunciation, but with meaning distinct, or even words that have small differences, but that can cause many doubts at the time of the writing. To avoid mistakes, know the three classifications for homonymous words:
homographic homonyms: In this case, the words are the same in writing, but different in pronunciation. See some examples:
this (pronoun) |
this (cardinal point) |
government (noun) |
government (verb) |
wolf (animal) |
lobe (lower ear) |
nail (nail nails) |
preach (give a sermon) |
serious (adjective) |
would be (verb) |
homophone homonyms: homophone words are the same in pronunciation and different in writing. 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: homographic words represent the type of perfect homonymy, that is, they 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) |
It is important to note that, despite the existing differences, homonymous words do not harm communication, even because it is important to analyze the context in which they are inserted. Depending on the communication situation, we will know exactly what our interlocutor means when he says, by example, that "goes to the bank to check your balance", because, in this case, we know that it is not referring to the bank used as seat. If someone tells us that they are taking a television for repair, we know exactly that the object will be repaired, as they can only go to the repair to listen to music. However, knowing the differences is very important so that mistakes do not happen in writing, since in writing they can cause doubts and even problems in communication and understanding. In these cases, nothing better than a dictionary lookup, right?
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters