It has been awhile that I wrote anything. June and I are back at Sarah and Scott's place in Parramatta, Sydney. The weather is fine, and whether or not (homophone here unintentional) you realise it, there are many words in English that are pronounced differently, with different meanings, even though they have the same spelling. I am sure you can name quite a few. Such words, usually pairs, are referred to as Heteronyms.
Here are some examples (with sub-classification indicated for some variations of Heteronyms)
Read - present and past tense. (Rhymes with hid and had) (Grammatical Function Heteronyms).
Polish - wax and polish the floor and citizens of Poland (Capitonyms)
Resume and Resumé - to begin again and a summary (Accent Heteronymns)
Now for the True Heteronyms - words that have the same spellings but have unique pronunciations and unique meanings.
lead - to guide and the metal. (Rhymes with lid and led)
row - row, row, row your boat and quarrel or have a row with your boss. (Rhymes with crow and cow)
wind - wind the clock (behind) and blowing in the wind (Bob Dylan)
minute - there are 60 seconds in a minute and there were minute amounts of arsenic in the dead husband's body.
present - the past and present and let me present to you our latest collection of diamonds from Pulau Ketam.
How about the following words :
desert
refuse
produce
For a more thorough discussion of heteronyms, the following website should be of interest:
http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_heteronyms.html
Saturday, April 21, 2012
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