Friday, January 27, 2012

hetero = different, homo = same graph = writing, phone = speaking

Greek lesson
hetero = different, homo = same
graph = writing, phone = speaking (I use the word:sound)

most English words pairs are heterographic heterophones
hat, discipline

some English word pairs are
homographic homophones
same writing - same sounding
bank (place for money) vs. bank (side of river)

some English word pairs are
heterographic homophones
different writing - same sounding
sail sale
these are often called homonyms

some English word pairs are
homographic heterophones
same writing - different souning
tear (to rip), tear (a result of crying)

To accurately describe the ambiguity, you need a word to describe the writing and a word to describe the pronunciation (sound).
The term homophone could refer to bank vs. bank words or sail vs. sale words

I have a friend who did her masters on heterographic homophones and homographic heterophones. After the first time she did an oral presentation she always referred to them as bank-bank words vs. tear-tear words when presenting her work orally.

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