Homonyms and Their Grammatical Heirs

[Turtle]

Homonym - words which sound alike but have different meanings and which may or may not have the same spelling.

 

This is an interesting artifact of one difference between spoken and written language and while sometimes innocuous, homonym errors may altogether change the meaning of the communication.

 

Samples:

•since

•sense

•cents

 

The ever popular:

•weather

•whether

 

The Title:

•heirs

•airs

•errors

 

Your favorite, or ones you love to hate?

•?

•?

•?

[Edella]

Having a spell-checker definitely helps me get my points across better, but it doesn't help a poor speller like me look too bright when screwing-up words like:

 

censer - incense holder

 

censor - bad person who fears knowledge. :ebomb:

 

sensor - a device which detects

 

 

elude - to escape

 

illude - to deceive

 

 

elicit - to draw out

 

illicit - unlawful

[Turtle]

Having a spell-checker definitely helps me get my points across better, but it doesn't help a poor speller like me look too bright when screwing-up words like:

 

censer - incense holder

 

censor - bad person who fears knowledge. :kiss:

 

sensor - a device which detects

 

Exactly! Whether using an electronic spell check or a hard-copy dictionary, such errors as these creep in. On the face they appear as spelling errors, but at the root they are errors of grammatical usage.

 

Part of my interest in this class is actually employing them purposefully for comic or poetic effect. In some cases this gives the common double entendre, but I can find no word to describe more than two entendres (entendre - French for "meaning") and for me the more the merrier.

For example in the title of this thread, substituting "airs" or "errors" for "heirs" broadens the possible interpretations. For this to have the effect I intend, the communication must be read as the multi-entendre is lost if the passage is simply heard.

•herd

•heard

:kiss:

[InfiniteNow]

• To
  
• Two
  
• Too
  

[infamous]

Pale: ........of a whitish or colorless complexion

Pale: ........a pointed stake used in fences

Pail: .........a cylindrical container, usually with a handle

[InfiniteNow]

* Grate - as in, cheese or road rash or get on someone's nerves

* Grate - as in, a furnishing for a fireplace

* Grate - as in, some combination of bars, usually made of iron, to prevent objects from getting through

 

* Great - as in, many members on this site

[infamous]

Desert: To abandon or to forsake

Desert: wilderness or uninhabited region

Desert: deserving reward

Dessert: pronounced exactly like Desert but defined as the last portion of a meal, usually sweet in nature.

 

Thanks to the watchful eye of my friend Turtle this post has been edited to correct a mistake I made in it's first publication. Thank you sir Turtle, very good eyesight for a reptile 'I must say'

 

..........................Infy

[infamous]

Weather: conditions in the atmosphere

Whether: if it be the case

Wither: to what place

......................Infy

[InfiniteNow]

Peace

/forums/images/smilies/banana_sign.gif

Piece

Peas

/forums/images/smilies/mad_2.gif

[infamous]

Post: A piece of wood or metal etc., set upright to support a building, sign, etc.

Post: The place where a soldier, guard, etc. is stationed.

Post: The mail

Post: After in time, later.

 

.....................Infy

[Turtle]

Then we have the further confusion of mispronunciation to stir the homonym mix. Psuedo-homonyms?:hyper:

 

affect

effect

[ughaibu]

In japanese this can be a problem as there's a large vocabulary but few sounds.

'iruka iru ka' - is there a dolphin?

'doitsu ga doitsu ka' - which is the German?

'kaeru kaeru ga kaeru' - I can buy a pet frog

etc.

[moo]

fly - (noun) A winged insect.

fly - (noun) A garment fastener on your pants.

fly - (noun) A type of ball (in baseball).

fly - (verb) To display a flag.

fly - (verb) What a plane does in the air.

fly - (verb) What a pilot does (requires a plane).

 

moo

[TheBigDog]

I believe the word set has the most definitions of any word in the english language.

 

Bill

[TheBigDog]

Die - Shuffle off the mortal coil

Die - A shaped cutting device

Die - Singular of Dice

Dye - to color something permanently

 

Bill

[cwes99_03]

I never knew that homonym meant both homograph and homophone (two new terms I just learned).

I think grammatical errors would center around homophones, that is words that sound the same but have different spelling (their, there, they're).

 

Interesting homograph - POT - meaning vessel and marijuana

[TheBigDog]

Perhaps my favorites are...

 

Raise - to lift up or build

Raze - to burn to the ground

 

:D

 

Bill