Homonym, homograph, homophone, heterograph: Ah, the English language! I nearly went crazy looking them up and trying to distinguish among them. I believe that is because there is a great deal of overlap.
Homonym – –Nym (name) implies that homonyms will be two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings and possibly different spellings: Two, to, and too are homonyms. So are there, they’re, and their.
Homograph – – Graph (spelling/writing) implies that homographs will be two or more words that are spelled the same but not necessarily pronounced the same and have different meanings. Bass the fish and bass the instrument are homographs. Bat (the animal) and bat (in baseball) are also homographs. Lead (the verb) and lead (the pencil kind) are homographs that are pronounced differently, as are minute (sixty seconds) and minute (very small).
Homophone — Phone (sound) implies that homophones will be two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings. Here are some homophones: break/brake, cell/sell, here/hear, flower/flour, bare/bear.
Heterograph – Hetero (other) and graph (spelling) implies that heterographs are words that sound the same as other words, but they have different spellings and different meanings: blue/blew, horse/hoarse, knead/need, paws/pause, son/sun.
So, now, what is the difference between a homonym and a homograph? And what is the difference between a homophone and a heterograph? You figure it out because my brain is beginning to fry!!!
ENGLISH!!!!!! As long as you spell the word correctly as you are using it, who cares???
Dear Arlene,
Possible things got mixed up a little, in that homonyms are pronounced and written the same; homographs, on the other hand, are only written the same. Both have different meanings.
Suggested [re]definitions:
Homonym – –Nym (name) implies that homonyms will be two or more words having the same pronunciation and spelling, but different meanings: fluke (A flat fish …); fluke (A parasitic trematoid worm, ….), fluke (A variety of kidney potato, …). Bat (the animal) and bat (in baseball) are also homographs.
Homograph – – Graph (spelling/writing) implies that homographs will be two or more words that are spelled the same but not necessarily pronounced the same and have different meanings. Bass the fish and bass the instrument are homographs.
Lead (the verb) and lead (the pencil kind) are homographs that are pronounced differently, as are minute (sixty seconds) and minute (very small).
Homophone — Phone (sound) implies that homophones will be two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings. Here are some homophones: break/brake, cell/sell, here/hear, flower/flour, bare/bear.
Kind regards,
Will
I looked these words up over and over again in multiple sources, and there just is not a complete distinction among them. There is overlap even in your definitions. The word “necessarily” in the definitions make it difficult to completely separate them.
Hmm , I respectfully disagree about horse/hoarse (hoarse has a more O sound. Also, they’re sounds more llke thay’re and there sounds more like thair. May be a ‘southern’ thing but it was the way I was taught /taut. 🙂
Yu may certainly disagree, but I say Horse and Hoarse exactly the same way. Same with their and its homo-whatevers. Close enough.