2. Mr. Dumpty misuses words; the words
he chooses to express his thoughts
only confuse Alice.
‘I don’t know what you mean by
“glory”,’ Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled
contemptuously. ‘Of course
you don’t – till I tell you. I meant
“there’s a nice knock-down
argument for you!”’
3. “When I use a word,” Humpty
Dumpty said in a rather
scornful tone, “it means just
what I choose it to mean —
neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice,
“whether you can make
words mean so many
different things.”
Lewis Carroll, Through
the Looking-Glass
What is the problem with this?
4. • The purpose of language is to
convey meanings.
• But sometimes words fail: they
don’t communicate the
meaning we had in mind.
• When words fail, either we
misused a word or a word
misused us.
5. This term’s Literacy
focus: HOMOPHONES!
• But what are homophones?
• Words that sound the same, but
are spelt differently and have
different meanings.
• What symbol would you see in
your book to highlight a
homophone error?
• WW
6. Some examples…
Homophones
For example:
• Flower –
• Flour –
Homonyms
Words that are spelt and sound
the same, but have different
meanings.
For example the word ‘rose’. What
does this word mean?
Hinweis der Redaktion
The purpose of language is to convey meanings.
We depend on words to carry a thought from our head and deliver it to someone else’s head.
But sometimes words fail: they don’t communicate the meaning we had in mind.
When words fail, either we misused a word or a word misused us.
