AN INTRODUCTION
References & Definitions
HOMOPHONE
Wikipedia - A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A homophone may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently, such as carat, and carrot, or to, two, and too. The term "homophone" may also apply to units longer or shorter than words, such as phrases, letters, or groups of letters which are pronounced the same as another phrase, letter, or group of letters. Any unit with this property is said to be "homophonous". Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms.
HOMONYM
Wikipedia - In linguistics, homonyms, broadly defined, are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation) or homophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. For example, according to this definition, the words row (propel with oars), row (argument) and row (a linear arrangement) are homonyms, as are the words see (vision) and sea (body of water).
A more restrictive or technical definition sees homonyms as words that are simultaneously homographs and homophones – that is to say they have identical pronunciation and spelling, whilst maintaining different meanings. Examples are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).
A distinction is sometimes made between true homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal).
The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy, and the associated adjective is homonymous.
The adjective "homonymous" can additionally be used wherever two items share the same name, independent of how closely they are or are not related in terms of their meaning or etymology.
HOMOGRAPH
Wikipedia - A homograph (from the Greek: ὁμός, homós, "same" and γράφω, gráphō, "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also sound different, while the Oxford English Dictionary says that the words should also be of "different origin". 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 blow.
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 looser 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).
R E F E R E N C E S
Example: Write a Poem of Homophones
The Girl And The Frog
Their once was a girl
Knot two pretty an knot two ugly
Just a normal ordinary girl
She was inn love with the prints,
Butt couldn’t get clothes enough two hymn
Won day she came upon a frog
The frog said, “I’m and enchanted frog,
If ewe kiss me, ewe will become beautiful.”
The girl thought about what the frog had said
An decided two take the frogs advice
She kissed hymn
An with a poof
The frog transformed into and enchanted prints
Two her shock, she was still the same
The enchanted prints had other plans of his own
He was inn love with the prints's sister
Sew he went two the castle looking four the princess
The girl was left with a broken hart an crying
* * * * * * * * * * * *
An Angry Friend
- Anon
Wear/Where were you yesterday
Who were you meating/meeting?
I saw poor /pour John waiting
Out there in the reign/rain
I know/no you were busy
And had not much time/thyme,
Sow/So now I’m going to give you
A peace/piece of my mind!
Bye/by/buy!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
S A M P L E
S A M P L E
* * * * * * * * * * * *
What word has the most homophones?
Suggestion 1
Since (preposition, conjunction, & adverb) in the intervening period between (the time mentioned) and the time under consideration, typically the present; for the reason that.
Sense (noun) a feeling that something is the case.
Scents (noun) a distinctive smell, especially one that is pleasant.
Cents (noun) plural of cent.
Cense (verb) perfume (something) ritually with the odor of burning incense.
I thought a homophone was a word with different spelling and same sound.
[So Rose (past tense) and Rose (flower) would not count as homophones]
I’m seeing online that Since is phonetically | sins | but I would argue that it is most often heard | sens | so I’m including it. Enter dynamic language argument.
Suggestion 2
Without stretching this is the most common homophone I’m aware of carrot, caret, carat, karat.
They are: A vegetable, a typographical mark, the weight of gems, the fineness of gold.
Suggestion 3
In Chinese, my stats, from my mobilephone dictionary, indicate that there are 20902 characters sharing 415 pinyins (1383 pīnyīns considering tones). There are 15 homophones for each pīnyīns averagely. It's said by a Chinese author Li Ao that yì has the most homophones, totalling 205.
They are ( all below are pronounced yì):
乂
义
亿
弋
刈
艺
忆
艾
阣
仡
议
.
.
.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
What word has the most homonyms?
Suggestion 1
One can arguably claim that the following words have the same pronunciation (kinda-sorta), different spellings (kinda-sorta), and different meanings (kinda-sorta).
Feel free to reject any for whatever reason you consider rejection-worthy; the remaining set will still be impressively large.
/ɛr/:
aer-, prefix: “air-related”.
air, verb: to publicly discuss. As: to air a grievance.
aire, obsolete spelling of air (noun, a tune or melody).
Aire: river in northern England.
-aire, suffix indicating a person who is or has something (as in millionaire, concessionaire, legionnaire).
are, noun: unit of areal measure, one-hundredth of a hectare.
Ayer, Sir Alfred Jules: English positivist philosopher.
ayre: sea-formed sand-spit.
ear, noun: organ of hearing (dialect pronunciation). Plural: earen.
e’er, contraction of ever.
eare, noun: organ of hearing (dialect pronunciation, obsolete spelling). Plural: earen.
eere, noun: organ of hearing (dialect pronunciation, obsolete spelling). Plural: eeren.
eir, gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective like their but singular; belonging to em.
eir, a measure of data rate in packet networks.
ere, adverb, archaic or poetical: before.
err, verb: make a mistake (variant American pronunciation).
eyr, obsolete spelling of air (noun, the gas forming our atmosphere).
eyr, noun: organ of hearing (dialect pronunciation; obsolete spelling). Plural: eyren.
eyre, mediæval-England circuit court.
Eyre, surname of the protagonist of an 1847 novel by “Currer Bell” (Charlotte Brontë).
Suggestion 2
bow - To bend forward at the waist in respect (e.g. "bow down")
bow - the front of the ship (e.g. "bow and stern")
bow - the weapon which shoots arrows (e.g. "bow and arrow")
bow - a kind of tied ribbon (e.g. bow on a present, a bowtie)
bow - to bend outward at the sides (e.g. a "bow-legged" cowboy)
bough - a branch on a tree. (e.g. "when the bough breaks...")
bō - a long staff, usually made of tapered hard wood or bamboo
beau--a male paramour
* * * * * * * * * * * *
by Joe Tessitore and James A. Tweedie
From Joe:
On Seymour’s Weight Gain
There’s more to see of Seymour,
So I see Seymour more.
---
The First Time I Saw Paris
When I got
an eyeful of Eiffel, I ful-
Filled a life-time dream.
---
From James:
Icy Eyes
A frosty Highlands sky
Caught Scots by surprise.
When asked, one man said, “Aye,
“I see icy eyes.”
---
Oui, Oui!
This little piggy went to Paris, and this little piggy went to Rome
I asked them if lattés in Bern
Affected them on their return.
And this little piggy went, “Oui, oui! We wee-ed all the way home!”
---
Susan Jarvis Bryant
September 16, 2019
Oh Yeah!
I saw a bare bear
and a hare without hair
on the stair – did I stare?
Oh yeah!
I spied with shy eye,
sidled by to go buy
underwear for the daring pair.
“Was it dear, deer?” they said
with cheeks blushing red
at the price tag they read –
Oh yeah!
But, I’m a doe in the know
with a dough-splashing beau
who never says no coz he’s fair.
A toad towed them home
in a cart with a groan
from a hoarse horse who waived the fare.
“Cheap! Cheap!” the birds cheeped.
“Bald! Bald!” bawled the beasts.
“Please! Please!” rose my pleas, “Spare a care
for the bare bear and hare without hair!”
Oh yeah!
---
A tale of two tivs
by Joe Spring, September 16, 2019
Barry built a wooden tiv
and Billy bought a tin one,
and each one said he wouldn’t’ve
done what his friend had done.
Then Billy said “Look at my tin tiv!”
Said Barry “It’s pretty good!
If I had money I mightn’t’ve
made this here tiv of wood.”
Said Billy, “Have you thought’f
Trading yours for mine?
For now I think I oughtn’t’ve
gone to the shop and bought a tiv
when p’r’aps your wooden tiv’ll’ve
been really rather fine.”
Then trade they did, a tiv for a tiv
And happy they were to trade:
the one for the tiv the other had bought
And the other the other had made.
---
From the unhumorous side
by Joe Tessitore, September 16, 2019
One nightstand, that and just a bed.
One bare bulb, burning overhead.
Two lie there, nothing to be said,
in the glare of a one-night stand.
---
Confusion
by Troy Camplin, September 16, 2019
The constant, cruel cacophony can crush
My nerves at times and overwhelm my days —
I long for days when I’d enjoy the hush
Of forest walks that kept me from the glaze
That cataracts my mind when music, voices,
Such overwhelming sounds come from my choices.
The constant tugging, pulling, neediness
Of everyone exhausts me, makes a haze
Through which all light seems blinding bright — I bless
Those moments, ever-rarer, when I gaze
Upon a room of nothingness, where none
Is present, making their demands I run.
The constant pettiness that seems to fill
The days of everyone are like a blaze
Of heat, oppressing me. Do what I will,
Yet going through my days brings on a daze,
Where I cannot collect my thoughts, my self —
I feel a toy forgotten on the shelf.
---
On History
by Troy Camplin, September 16, 2019
The restless river runs deep red
While on the bank the people glance
With love, make children, song, and dance.
They come, enjoy the festive spread—
The river tries to make a trance—
While on the bank the people glance
With love, make children, song, and dance.
While killing, stealing, crimes are read
As history—our only stance
Great criminals or weary chance
The restless river runs deep red.
While on the bank the people glance
With love, make children, song, and dance.
---
Baited Breath
by Susan Jarvis Bryant, September 16, 2019
I hear a soft pause in the pad of her paws
as I pray for the fate of her prey.
Oh, for a flaw as she skulks across floor;
the slam of a door near the pet I adore,
as I weigh up the scene for a way
to give you a tale where the mouse keeps his tail
when I’ve sent Kitty off of the scent;
that ripe rodent reek causing felines to wreak
mayhem for a week; no time to be weak
in this SHOO-WITH-A-SHOE event!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
From Hello P'try: Homonyms
Farmer's best sign of luck
by A.W., April 2018
Pitter-patter;
pelting peaking the poignant hearing of a peering, personable
person.
Awakened she walks;
waiting for water to weaken against the small windows,
withering away.
Flourishing souls;
stemming from spring came spitting droplets, refreshing flora.
Drab days;
dead development dawdled by dreary dates - winter is gone.
Joyful cheers!
Carrot's stones cherished close for colder days.
Winter disappears for departure.
Spring reappears for resurgence
---
Homonyms
by Alessandra Vargas, Mar 2018
people leave
and
people live
and, often,
these two
can depend
on each other
---
Temptress Pride and all Hubris!
by Dawn of Lighten, Nov 2015
I have two persona with very different duality,
I have too extreme of a personality,
And I have a hard time expressing myself to your factuality.
Only veiled my discreet personal past with thin layers of exclamation,
To diverge, veer, or in discrete my own expression.
To die within my own words to save my honor,
Or to stay translucent to dye my tongue in fake color.
For I have failed myself in becoming true to my belief,
For eye to eye I can't seem to meet any sort of relief,
Are these my real eyes point of view,
Or have I realized I been dreaming of you,
Or were they simply all real lies of my personal skew?
This desire to raise your understanding,
But your voice raze my defense to oblivion,
And heavenly rays depart like the moons with wolf howl with your gaze!
Was there nothing of me that sparkled to your kindred spirit,
Was I that loathing of your presence to lose your smile?
No matter as past are like the whim of a sail,
I Know that happiness has no sale.
Believe me when I say I want you to be happy,
But my hunger to eat this precious apple pie will hurt me more,
Much more than my desire to be fit like those men in commercials.
Sorry possibly good looking ads,
But I must cheat on you for good!
Those eight pies, I ate them with pride and prejudice!
For my temptation was hubris!
---
the corner of page 6
by M. Eastman, Apr 2015
Maybe they'll publish me
one the corner of the
daily
page 6
and sorry ***** black smears
bite they no longer
print any questions about what
or why
the daily exposition celebrity
murders
all bright screens now
farms as far as you can squint
---
My Style Is Poor : Living On Change
MaryJane Doe, May 2014
I'm the prophet in my life
Nothing in my wallet
The only paper that I make
Hold the words of a sonnet
Nothing left but sense
Just the change in my pocket
Safe near my heart
Without a way to lock it
Yeah My style is poor
So who's gonna rob it
When these words
Are all I own
When I can't buy what I want
I learn to live
With what I've got
Cuz happiness
Just can't be bought
It must be found
It must be sought
When I can't buy what I need
I learn I need the change
That's in my pocket
Yeah Change is all I need
I don't buy things on credit
I won't make that promise
My truth is my proof
I'm just trying to be honest
Flying high on life
Blazing tales like comets
You'll never be low
When life has you high on it
My style is poor
But I'm gonna rocket
Cuz the sky is where I fly
When I can't buy what I want
I learn to live
With what I've got
Cuz happiness
Just can't be bought
It must be found
It must be sought
When I can't buy what I need
I learn I need the change
That's in my pocket
Change is all I need
