STUDY HOMOGRAPHS WITH EASE

     

 

 In meaning negotiations, you've probably heard about synonyms, antonyms, homophones and homonyms but it is very uncommon to hear people mention homographs. Of course it is not new to you and I that a SYNONYM is the relationship between two words that can be used interchangeably.'transformation'/'metamorphosis','aggravate'/'worsen', 'pretty'/'beautiful' etc are all examples of SYNONYM. On the other hand, an ANTONYM deals with meaning relationship in the opposite direction as seen in 'good'/'bad', 'tall'/'short', 'big'/'small' etc. When two words are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning and or spelling, we call that HOMOPHONE. This can be seen in 'bare'/'bear', 'right'/'wright', 'gait', 'gate' etc. Some words are spelt and pronounced the same way but have different meanings; such words are called HOMONYMS. An example of this is the word bank which can be a financial institution,to have confidence or faith in someone, the brim of a river etc.

         However, an HOMOGRAPH shares the quality of both the HOMOPHONE and the HOMONYM in that it is a lexical relation where words are pronounced differently but spelt the same and with different meanings. For example, 'a live concert', 'where do you live?' 'a lead singer', 'a lead pipe', 'read your book everyday', 'I read my book yesterday'.  Observe that the  HOMOPHONES were not spelt the same way but were pronounced the same way. Also note that the HOMONYM, Bank has no change in its pronunciation and spelling whereas it has numerous meanings such as: power bank, blood bank, riverbank, etc. Most times, HOMONYMS and HOMOGRAPHS are used interchangeably; what differentiates them is just 'pronunciation'. One has same pronunciation and the other, different pronunciation which can be realised through stress placements, voicing and sounds. It seems you are confused, relax! Homographs are very funny to learn. Let me show you some of its tricks:

Several problems do occur with the prefix ‘re’ in words that do not follow a permanent usage. There are large shifts of meaning between the front-stressed noun and the end-stressed verb. Two of those words are ‘record’ and ‘refuse’

NOUN                                     VERB

Record -/'rekɔ:d/         Record - /ri'kɔ:d/

Refuse -/'refju:z/         Refuse  -/ri'fju:s/

There are some other groups of the English homographs that has the ‘ed’ adjectives which can also match the verb past tenses in other forms.

ADJECTIVE                           VERB

Aged  -  /                                     Aged  -

Blessed  /                             Blessed - 

Learned  -/                             Learned  - 

Examples:

1). My aged /'eiʤid/ aunty. (Adjective)

     As he aged,/'eiʤd/ his memory got worse (Verb)

2). Blessed /'blesid/ are the poor (Adjective)

     They brought the Children to Jesus and he blessed /'blest/ them.  (Verb)

3). He is a learned  /'lз:nid/ professor (Adjective)

     How did they react when they learned  /'lз:nt/ the news?(verb)

Are you following? Okay, that's good!

OTHER HOMOGRAPHS 

 a). minute -/'minit/ this  means the record of meeting, it can also mean 1/60th of an hour. 

i. It’s four minutes to six.

ii. We have read through the minutes of the last meeting. 

 b). minute - /mai'nju:t/ this means extremely small and it can also mean something that is very detailed, careful and thorough.

 i. The kitchen on the boat is minute .

ii. She remembered everything in minute detail .

 a). lead - /li:d/ this  means to show the way and it can also mean to be in control. 

 i. If you lead, I’ll follow.

 ii. Who will lead the discussion in the next meeting?

 b). lead - /led/ this  means a chemical element which is heavy, soft grey metal used for water pipes. It can also mean the thin black part of a pencil that marks paper. 

i. The lead of water underneath is exposed.

ii. The lead of the pencil is broken .

a). live - /liv/ to remain alive/ to have your home in a particular place .

i. The Doctor said he had only six month to live.

ii. We used to live in Accra.

 b). live - /laiv/ a broadcast that is sent out while the event is actually happening. 

i. A live recording made at Wembly arena.

ii. A live match.

I guess you are no longer confused, are you? Let me show you some more discoveries about homographs:

Advocate - /'ædvəkeit/ (verb)- to speak or write in support of. Example: The group does not advocate the use of violence. 

Advocate - /ædvəkət/ (noun)- a person who speaks in favour of somebody Example: A staunch advocate of free speech. 

 Accent - /'æksent/ (noun) – a way of pronouncing the word of a language that shows which area or social class a person come from. 

Accent - /æk'sent/ (verb) – to emphasize a part of something. 

Attribute - /ə'tribju:t/ (verb) – to think of as belonging to 

Attribute - /'ætribju:t/ (noun) – quality or feature. 

Buffet - /bu'fei/ (noun) – a self served food bar 
Buffet - /b˄fit/ (verb) – to hit/ punch/ slap 

Compact - /kəm'pækt/ (adjective) – closely and firmly packed together 
Compact - /'kɒmpækt/ - (noun)- a small case for holding make up 
Compact - /'kəm'pækt/ - (verb) – press something together firmly 

Desert - /'dezət/ (noun) - a hot/ arid region 
Desert - /di'zз:t/ (verb) – to leave somebody without help

  I am sure you enjoyed yourself and also learnt simultaneously, why not share and allow others to also learn.