Homograph

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File:Homograph homophone venn diagram.png

Venn diagram showing the relationships between homographs (yellow) and related linguistic concepts

A homograph (from the Template:Langx, Template:Translit Template:Gloss and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Translit Template:Gloss) is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning.<ref> Template:Cite dictionary </ref> However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> while the Oxford English Dictionary says that the words should also be of "different origin".<ref>Oxford English Dictionary: homograph.</ref> In this vein, The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography lists various types of homographs, including those in which the words are discriminated by being in a different word class, such as hit, the verb to strike, and hit, the noun a strike.<ref>Atkins, BTS.; Rundell, M., The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography, OUP Oxford, 2008, pp. 192 - 193.</ref>

If, when spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations, the words are also heteronyms. Words with the same writing and pronunciation (i.e. are both homographs and homophones) are considered homonyms. However, in a broader sense the term "homonym" may be applied to words with the same writing or pronunciation. Homograph disambiguation is critically important in speech synthesis, natural language processing and other fields. Identically written different senses of what is judged to be fundamentally the same word are called polysemes; for example, wood (substance) and wood (area covered with trees).

In English

Examples:

• sow (verb) Template:IPAc-en – to plant seed

sow (noun) Template:IPAc-en – female pig

where the words are heteronyms, spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but could occur in written language.

• bear (verb) – to support or carry

bear (noun) – the animal

where the words are homonyms, identical in spelling and pronunciation (Template:IPAc-en), but different in meaning and grammatical function.

The above examples are of etymologically unrelated words. Some homographs are also etymological doublets, meaning they come from the same source and are spelt the same way in Modern English, but their distinct meanings are tied to their distinct pronunciations:

• Dominican Template:IPAc-en – of the Dominican Order or the Dominican Republic (fully anglicized, based on the Latin pronunciation of Dominicus Template:IPAc-la, named for Saint Dominic)

Dominican Template:IPAc-en – of Dominica (slightly modified from the Spanish pronunciation of Dominica Template:IPAc-es, named for Latin diēs Dominica Template:IPAc-la meaning "the Lord's Day" or "Sunday")

Both words ultimately come from Latin dominicus Template:IPAc-la meaning "of the Lord."

• violist Template:IPAc-en – viol player

violist Template:IPAc-en – viola player

Both viol and viola come from Latin vitula.

More examples

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Word	Example of first meaning	Example of second meaning
lead	Gold is denser than lead Template:IPAc-en.	The mother duck will lead Template:IPAc-en her ducklings around.
close	"Will you please close Template:IPAc-en that door!"	The tiger was now so close Template:IPAc-en that I could smell it...
wind	The wind Template:IPAc-en howled through the woodlands.	Wind Template:IPAc-en your watch.
minute	I will be there in a minute Template:IPAc-en.	That is a very minute Template:IPAc-en/Template:IPAc-en amount.

In Chinese

Many Chinese varieties have homographs, called Template:Linktext (Template:Lang-zh) or Template:Linktext (Template:Lang-zh), Template:Linktext (Template:Lang-zh).

Old Chinese

Modern study of Old Chinese has found patterns that suggest a system of affixes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> One pattern is the addition of the prefix {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, which turns transitive verbs into intransitive or passives in some cases:<ref name=baxterhandbook>Template:Cite book</ref>

Word	Pronunciationa	Meaninga	Pronunciationb	Meaningb
見<ref>The two meanings were later distinguished through the means of radicals, so that 見 ('to see', Std. Mand. jiàn) was unchanged, while 見 ('to appear', Std. Mand. xiàn) came to be written as 現.</ref>	main}}	see	main}}	appear
敗<ref>This distinction was preserved in Middle Chinese using voiced and unvoiced initials. Thus, 敗 (transitive, 'to defeat') was read as 北邁切 (Baxter, paejH), while 敗 (intransitive, 'to collapse; be defeated') was read as 薄邁切 (Baxter, baejH). 《增韻》：凡物不自敗而敗之，則北邁切。物自毀壞，則薄邁切。Modern Wu dialects (e.g., Shanghainese, Suzhounese), which preserve the three-way Middle Chinese contrast between voiced/aspirated/unaspirated initials, do not appear to preserve this distinction.</ref>	main}}	defeat	main}}	be defeated
All data from Baxter, 1992.<ref name=baxterhandbook/>

Another pattern is the use of a {{#invoke:IPA|main}} suffix, which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from nouns:<ref name=baxterhandbook/>

Word	Pronunciationa	Meaninga	Pronunciationb	Meaningb
傳	main}}	transmit	main}}	(n.) record
磨	main}}	grind	main}}	grindstone
塞	main}}	(v.) block	main}}	border, frontier
衣	main}}	clothing	main}}	wear, clothe
王	main}}	king	main}}	be king
All data from Baxter, 1992.<ref name=baxterhandbook/>

Middle Chinese

Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in Middle Chinese. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:

Word	Pronunciationa	Meaninga	Pronunciationb	Meaningb
易	main}}	easy	main}}	(v.) change
別	main}}	(v.) part	main}}	differentiate, other
上	main}}	rise, give	main}}	above, top, emperor
長	main}}	long	main}}	lengthen, elder
Reconstructed phonology from Wang Li on the tables in the article Middle Chinese. Tone names in terms of level (꜀平), rising (꜂上), departing (去꜄), and entering (入꜆) are given. All meanings and their respective pronunciations from Wang et al., 2000.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Modern Chinese

Many homographs in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese also exist in modern Chinese varieties. Homographs which did not exist in Old Chinese or Middle Chinese often come into existence due to differences between literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters. Other homographs may have been created due to merging two different characters into the same glyph during script reform (See Simplified Chinese characters and Shinjitai).

Some examples of homographs in Cantonese from Middle Chinese are:

Word	Pronunciationa	Meaninga	Pronunciationb	Meaningb
易	main}}	easy	main}}	(v.) change
上	main}}	rise, give	main}}	above, top, emperor
長	main}}	long	main}}	lengthen, elder

See also

• Synonym
• Interlingual homograph
• IDN homograph attack
• Syncretism (linguistics)
• False friend

Bibliography

• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal<