Homonyms lecture

1. Homonyms
Lecture # 8
Grigoryeva M.

2. Homonymy
 Definition of Homonymy
 Diachronic Study of Homonymy and
Sources of Homonyms
 Homonyms treated synchronically
 Classification of homonyms

3. Definition of Homonymy
 Greek homonymous – homos “the same”
onoma “name”
Two or more words identical in sound form and spelling,
or in one of these aspects, but different in meaning,
distribution and (in many cases) in origin

4. Types of homonyms
• Since there are several “types” of homonyms (e.g., same spelling but different
pronunciation, same pronunciation but different spelling, same spelling and same
pronunciation), further categorization is needed. We can say that homonyms
represent the big category, from which 3 sub-categories emerge:
• Homophones: two or more words that share the same pronunciation but have
different meanings. They may or may not be spelled on the same way.
• Examples: write and right, desert (to abandon) and desert (a thing deserved)
• Homographs: homonyms that share the same spelling. They may or may not have
the same pronunciation.
• Examples: present (a gift) and present (to introduce), row (argument) and row
(propel with oars)
• Heteronyms: those are homonyms that share the same spelling but have different
pronunciations. That is, they are homographs which are not homophones.
• Example: desert (to abandon) and desert (arid region)

5. Sources of Homonymy
1. Convergent development of sound form
2. Divergent meaning development

6. Classification of homonyms
by Walter Skeat
• identical in sound form and spelling but
different in meaning
Perfect homonyms
Ball
Any spherical body
A large dancing party

7. • identical in sound form but
different in spelling and meaning
Homophones
Piece
Part separated from smth
Peace
A situation without war conflicts

8. • words different in sound-form and in
meaning but identical in spelling
Homographs
Lead [li:d]
The first position at a particular time during competition
Lead [led]
A soft heavy grey metal

9. Classification of homonyms
by A.I. Smirnitsky
• full homonyms
• partial homonyms

10. Full homonyms
 words which represent the same category of parts of
speech and have the same paradigm
 have the same spelling an pronunciation
match, n.
a game, a contest
match, n.
a short piece of wood for producing fire

11. Partial homonyms
• Simple lexico-grammatical
• Complex lexico-grammatical
• Partial lexical

12. Partial homonyms
1. simple lexico- grammatical
belong to the same part of speech their paradigms have
only one identical form it is never the same form
to found, verb
found, verb
(Past Ind., Past. Part. of to find)

13. Partial homonyms
2. Complex lexico-grammatical
belong to different parts of speech and have one
identical form in their paradigms
rose, noun
rose, verb (Pat Ind. of to rise)
one, numeral
won, verb (Past Ind., Past Part. of to win)

14. Partial homonyms
3. Partial lexical homonyms
belong to the same part of speech but identical only
in corresponding forms of their paradigms
to lie (lay, lain), verb
to lie (lied, lied), verb
to can (canned, canned)
can (could)

15. Classification of homonyms
by I.V. Arnold
Only one group of homonyms-
Perfect homonyms
4 criteria for their classification:
• Lexical meaning
• Grammatical meaning
• Basic form
• Paradigm

16. Classification of homonyms
by I.V. Arnold
• Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings, basic forms and
paradigms but different in lexical meaning
Board - a piece of wood a council
• Homonyms identical in their grammatical meanings and basic forms
but different in lexical meaning and paradigms
To lie- lied- lied (ЛГАТЬ) To lie- lay- lain (ЛЕЖАТЬ)
• Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical
meaning and paradigms but identical in basic forms
Light (lights) Light (lighter, the lightest)
• Homonyms different in in their grammatical meanings, lexical
meaning, basic forms and paradigms (but coinciding in one of the
forms of their paradigms)
A bit Bit (to bite)

17. Classification of homonyms
according to their meaning
 lexical homonyms – words that differ in
their lexical meaning but identical in their
grammatical meaning
e.g. a seal (тюлень) – a seal (печать)

18. Synonyms and antonyms are regarded as the
treasure of the language’s expressive resources.
They are created by the vocabulary system with a
particular purpose
Homonyms are of no interest in this respect.
They are accidental creations, and therefore
purposeless.
In the process of communication they lead
sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding

19. Classification of homonyms
according to their meaning
 grammatical homonyms – different
word-forms of one and the same word are
identical
e.g. a seal – seals – seal’s – seals’

20. “Waiter!”
“Yes, sir!”
“What’s this?”
“It’s bean soup, sir!”
“Never mind what it has been. I want to
know what it is now.”
Bean – been (homophones)

21. Reasons for intense development of
homonyms in English
 monosyllabic character of the language
 analytic structure of English
 predominance of free forms in English
 high-developed polysemy

22. Sources of Homonyms
• Phonetic changes
• Borrowing
• Conversion
• Shortening
• Split polysemy

23. Convergent development of sound
form (phonetic changes)
 two or more words which were pronounced differently at
an earlier date may develop identical sound forms
OE
knight [knait] [nait] night [nait]

24. Divergent semantic development
(split polysemy)
 different meanings of the same word move so far
away from each other that they come to be
regarded as two separate units
(a long thing piece of wood) 1.a table
e.g. OE board
(food served at the table) 2.daily meals
ople discussing their business at the table) 3.officials who direct some activity

25. Sources of Homonymy
 shortening
Fan (Lat.)
“an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air”
Fan “ an enthusiastic admirer of sport or celebrity” shortening
Fanatic

26. Sources of Homonymy
 borrowings
Bank
bank – “a shore”
a native word
bank – “a financial institution”
an Italian borrowing

27. Sources of Homonymy
 sound-imitation
mew
‘the sound a cat makes’
‘a sea gull’
‘small terraced houses in London’

28. Synchronic Approach to Homonymy
1. the criteria distinguishing homonymy
from polysemy
2. the formulation of rules for recognizing
different meanings of homonyms in
terms of their distribution

29. Homonymy and Polysemy
 Semantic criterion of related and
unrelated meanings
connections between the various meanings
are apprehended by speakers or not
apprehended

30. Homonymy and Polysemy
 radiation - primary meaning stands in the
center, secondary meanings proceed out
of it like rays
polysemy

31. Homonymy and Polysemy
 concatenation – secondary meanings
develop like a chain. It is difficult to trace
some meanings to the primary one.
homonymy

32. Distribution Criterion
 homonyms differ in their syntactic function
e.g. I think that this “that” is a conjunction but that
“that” that that man used was a pronoun.

33. Classification of homonyms
according to their meaning
 lexical homonyms – words that differ in
their lexical meaning but identical in their
grammatical meaning
a seal (тюлень)
a seal (печать)

34. Classification of homonyms
according to their meaning
 grammatical homonyms – different
word-forms of one and the same word are
identical
a seal – seals – seal’s – seals’

35. PRACTICE
1.Define the given words into
 Homonyms proper
 Homophones
 Homographs
2.Give meanings of these words
Made (A) - maid (N), row (N) – row (N),
seal (N) - seal (N), band (N) – band (N),
desert (V) – desert (N)

36. Made (A) - maid (N)
Past make A female servant
HOMOPHONES
row (N) – row (N)
People in a line A quarrel
HOMOGRAPHS
seal (N) - seal (N)
A sea animal The official mark
HOMONYMS
de’sert (V) – ‘desert (N)
To leave empty A sandy land
HOMOGRAPHS
hare (N) – hair (N)
An animal Strands growing from the skin
HOMOPHONES

37. PRACTICE
 Fill in the blanks choosing the right word.
 Translate your sentences
No (sweet suite) without sweat.
All is (fare fair) in love and war.
Out of (site sight) out of mind.
It never rains, but it (pours paws).

38. Practice
Classify the homonyms using Professor Smirnitsky’s classification
• He should give a ball in your honor.—He is playing with a ball.
Full homonyms
• What’s happened with your left ear? – He ‘s left us.
Complex lexico-grammatical partial
• Turn off the light! – He is wearing light summer trousers.
Complex lexico-grammatical
• He couldn’t bear the pain.- catch the bear before you sell the skin.
Complex lexico-grammatical partial
• ‘To can’ means to make preservation. – Birds can fly
Lexical partial

39. Practice
• Find the homophones to the following words, give the
spelling (if they are different) and explain the difference
in meanings
Dye
Tale
Week
Sun
Meet
Write
Hare