7.6 Unrelated Senses: Homonymy

Words that sound the same but have different (unrelated) meanings are called homonyms (Greek homeos = ‘same’, onoma = ‘name’). Homonyms are either pronounced or spelled like another, or sometimes they are spelled and pronounced alike but have different meanings. Homonyms which are spelled alike but have differences in pronunciation and meaning are called homographs, e.g., bow (a show of respect or submission)—bow (a flexible strip for firing arrows or something bent into a simple curve); lead (position at the front) -- lead (an insulated electrical conductor connected to an electrical device). Homonyms which are pronounced alike but have differences in spelling and meaning are called homophones, e.g., I—eye, knight—night, sole—soul, gorilla—guerilla, to—too—two, bear—bare, brake—break, scent—sent, jeans—genes, waive—wave, buy—bye, and others. Homophones are often the basis for puns, e.g., Seven days without chocolate make one weak. The sign said, “Fine for parking here,” and since it was fine, I parked there. Homonyms which are pronounced and spelled alike but have different meanings are called homonyms proper, e.g. bear (to have children)—bear (tolerate)—bear (to carry)—bear (animal) and tear (to rip)—tear (to fill with tears), and others.

James B. Hobbs, who compiled a dictionary, Homophones and Homograph (1930), differentiates homonyms, homophones, and homographs. He defines homonym as “one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning” (p.7). Homophone is defined as “one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling” (p.7). Homograph is “one of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or derivation or pronunciation” (p.7). In his dictionary, Hobbs sharply distinguishes these three categories.

Several linguists have addressed the question: Do homophones tend to self-destruct because of their tendency to create confusion and ambiguity? Jules Gilliéron states that “two words of different origin that become homophones by regular sound changes may, because of ambiguity and confusion, interfere with each other to such an extent that one is ultimately driven from the vocabulary of a particular dialect” (as cited in Hobbs, 1999, p.7). The scholars refer to this hypothesis as a conflict of homophones; however, Professor Robert Menner of Yale University argues that if there was a loss of a homophonous word, then it should not be attributed only to a conflict of homophones. He believes that “two homophones are unlikely to interfere unless they belong to the same part of speech, and if they do, then words must fall within the same sphere of ideas and be likely to appear in similar contexts” (as cited in Hobbs, 1999, p. 8). Menner asserts it is possible that “a combination of alike sounds representing two different words could become ambiguous, and the resultant confusion is so marked as to lead to elimination of one of the words” (1936, p.229). Homophonous words may disappear not only because of a conflict of homophones but also because they may become obsolete in the course of language development.