Homonym

Homonym

Definitions

 

Homonyms are two or more words that have the same sound or spelling but differ inmeaning. Adjectives: homonymic andhomonymous.

Generally, the term homonym refers both tohomophones (words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings, such as pairand pear) and to homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, such as "bow your head" and "tied in a bow").

Note that some dictionaries and textbooks define and distinguish these three terms in different ways. Some equate homonyms only with homophones (words that sound the same). Others equate homonymns only with homographs (words that look the same). See the observations below by Tom McArthur and David Rothwell. Also see Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary, 4th ed., by James B. Hobbs (McFarland & Company, 2006).

In linguistics, a homonym is one of a group of words that share the same pronunciation but have different meanings, whether spelled the same or not. A more restrictive definition sees homonyms as words that are simultaneouslyhomographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of their pronunciation)andhomophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of their spelling). The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy. Examples of homonyms 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).

In non-technical contexts, the term "homonym" may be used (somewhat confusingly) to refer to words that are either homographs orhomophones. The words row (propel with oars) and row (argument) and row (a linear arrangement of seating) are considered homographs, while the words read (peruse) andreed (waterside plant) would be considered homophones; under this looser definition, both groups of words represent groups of homonyms.

 

Example Homonym

Homonym	Contoh Kalimat Homonym
bat (noun = kelelawar) bat (noun = pemukul)	Bats may have rabies like dogs or cats. (Kelelawar mungkin rabies seperti anjing atau kucing.)
	The boy hit a thief with an aluminium baseball bat last night. (Anak itu memukul seorang pencuri dengan  tongkat baseball aluminium semalam.)
can (modal = dapat) can (noun = kaleng)	I can‘t make up my mind whether to buy a car or house. (Saya tidak dapat memutuskan membeli mobil atau rumah.)
	That can may made of aluminium. (Kaleng itu mungkin terbuat dari aluminium.)
fine (adjective= bagus) fine (noun = denda)	She looked fine yesterday. (Dia tampak baik kemarin.)
	You should pay the fine or go to the court. (Kamu harus membayar denda atau pergi ke pengadilan.)
left (past tense = meninggalkan) left (adverb = kiri)	He left the room 30 minutes ago. (Dia meninggalkan ruangan 30 menit yang lalu.)
	Turn left at the post office. (Belok kiri di kantor pos.)
light (noun = lampu) light (adjective = terang)	The hurricane damaged many traffic lights. (Angin topan merusak banyak lampu lalu lintas.)
	I prefer a light color for my furniture. (Saya lebih suka warna yang terang untuk mebel.)
match (noun = geretan) match (noun = pertandingan)	He can light a fire with onematch. (Dia dapat menyalakan api dengan satu korek.)
	I’ll watch the live matchonline. (Saya akan menonton pertandingan langsung itu secara online.)
stalk (noun = tangkai, batang) stalk (verb = mengikuti)	This vegetable has grayish-green stalks. (Sayuran ini mempunyai batang hijau keabu-abuan.)
	I’m not interested to stalkhim on facebook or twitter. (Saya tidak tertarik untuk mengamatinya di facebook atau twitter.)
tie (verb = mengikat) tie (noun = dasi)	My friend tied the box with a red ribbon. (Teman saya mengikat kotak itu dengan pita merah.)
	He wanted to know how to put a tie on properly. (Dia ingin tau bagaimana memakai dasi dengan benar.)

• Accept (to receive) and Except (excluding)
• Acts (things done) and Ax (chopping tool)
• Ad (advertisement) and Add (short for addition)
• Affect (to influence) and Effect (result)
• Aid (to assist) and Aide (an assistant)
• Air (stuff we breath) and Heir (one who will inherit)
• Aisle (walkway) and Isle (island)
• Allusion (an indirect reference) and Illusion (a misconception)
• Ant (insect) and Aunt (parent's sister)
• Bald (hairless) and Bawled (cried aloud)
• Band (a group) and Banned (forbidden)
• Capital (city) and Capitol (wealth and resources)
• Climactic (great intensity) and Climatic (weather conditions)
• Days (more than one day) and Daze (to bewilder)
• Die (to become dead) and Dye (coloring agent)
• Elicit (to bring out) and Illicit (unlawful)
• Emigrate from (leave one country) and Immigrate to (enter another country)
• Fair (even-handed) and Fare (payment)
• Fairy (imaginary magic person) and Ferry (river-crossing boat)
• Gilt (gold-plated) and Guilt (did wrong)
• Gorilla (large ape) and Guerrilla (military soldier)
• Knead (working bread dough) and Need (must have)
• Mail (postal delivery) and Male (masculine person)
• Principle (a basic truth) and Principal (head of a school/sum of money)
• Scene (visual location) and Seen (past tense of saw)
• Than (a comparison) and then (shows time)
• There (a place) and Their (belongs to them) and They're (they are)
• To (a preposition) and Too (an adverb) and Two (a number)
• Your (possessive pronoun) and You're (you are)