How do Homophones, Homographs and Homonyms Affect Pronunciation?

What Are Homophones, Homographs and Homonyms and How Do They Affect Pronunciation?

Homophones, homographs and homonyms form a vital part of English grammar. Words which are homophones, homographs or homonyms can easily trip up new English speakers, carrying a confusing mix of similarities and striking differences between their pronunciation, spelling and meaning.

That’s why we’ve defined what homophones, homographs and homonyms really are and how you can tell the difference between them, whilst taking a closer look at how homographs in particular can affect your pronunciation, making them a central aspect of speaking fluent English.

Join the British Accent Newsletter

And learn more about British pronunciation, accents and culture

Homophones - Same Sound / Different Meaning or Spelling

Homophones are words which are pronounced identically, despite being spelled completely different and meaning different things. Some examples include: “cereal” and “serial”, “not” and “knot”, “days” and “daze”, or “they’re,” “their” and “there.”

While two homophones are pronounced the same, their meaning will be different: “cereal” refers to the breakfast food, and “serial” is a synonym for “recurring.”

Homophones also include words which share the same spelling and pronunciation, but mean completely different things within different contexts. For example, the word “conduct,” could refer either to one who leads another, such as a traffic or music conductor, or could be used as a synonym for “behavior,” depending on the context it appears in.

Homographs - Same Spelling / Different Meaning or Sound

Homographs work in the opposite sense to homophones – Homographs are words which share the same spelling, but have different meanings. Some examples include “bat” (as in the animal, or a cricket bat), “close” (as in, “close the door” or “come closer”) and “date” (as in the fruit, the day of the week, or going on a date).

Other homographs share the same spelling but have contrasting pronunciations depending on their definition. This can be a tricky concept for non-native English learners to grasp! Some common examples of homographs with different pronunciations include “lead,” as in the metal (pronounced “led”) or the act of leading another (pronounced “leed”), or “Polish,” relating to either the country of Poland (pronounced “pole-ish”) or cleaning (pronounced “poll-ish”).

What are Homonyms?

Homonyms inhabit a gray area of the English language. Depending on which dictionary you refer to, homonyms could be either homophones and/or homographs.

“Homonym” often appears as an umbrella term to describe both homonymns and homographs, though other linguists may beg to differ, defining a homonymn as words which are both spelled and sound alike, but have different meanings, such as “bat” above.

Remembering the Difference: Etymology

“Homophones,” “homographs” and “homonyms” are very similar terms. While carrying distinctive definitions, their similar lettering could make it hard for new English speakers to remember the differences between each term.

Breaking down each word into its root form can help you remember their differences, whilst giving a neat demonstration of how English words can be defined by interpreting their classical components.

“Homophones,” “homographs” and “homonyms” can be broken down into the following Greek root forms:

l “Homo” – which means “the same” or “equal as one.”

l “-phōnos” – which means “sound” or “voice,” as in the identical sound of two homophones.

l “graphein” – which means “to write,” as in the identical spelling of two homographs

l “onyma” – which means “name,” which could link to homonymns as an overarching term for both homophones and homographs

How Do Homophones, Homographs and Homonyms Affect Pronunciation?

Homophones are words which share a common spelling, and therefore don’t affect our pronunciation when reading them aloud – it’s the difference in meaning behind each spelling which is important. For example, “two,” “too” and “to” share the same pronunciation, but carry different definitions.

Homographs, however, do affect our pronunciation. If you’re learning English as a second language, seeing the word “bass,” for example, could strike some confusion.

“Bass” is a homogr aph. It carries more than one definition, and despite the word being spelled the same in both cases, its pronunciation changes based on what you are describing. In one instance, “bass” could refer to a low musical note or instrument (such as a bass guitar). In this context, the pronunciation of “bass” rhymes with the word “ace.” However, the word “bass” also describes a type of fish, and in this context, its pronunciation rhymes with the word “mass.”

Learning the differences in the pronunciations of homographs is vital to speaking English. While homophones concern spelling and written language, learning the correct use of homographs will aid the fluency of your social language. Their pronunciations and definitions of homographs and homophones are not interchangeable, and choosing the incorrect pronunciation for the definition you intend could spark some confusion at first with the person or people you’re talking to.

There are a lot more homophones in the English language to grasp than homographs. So when it comes to learning the ins-and-outs of homonyms in general, focusing on their definition and spelling is one of the most important approaches you can take.