Homograph#In Chinese

Examples:

• sow (verb) {{IPAc-en|s|oʊ}} – to plant seed

:sow (noun) {{IPAc-en|s|aʊ}} – female pig

where the words are heteronyms, spelt identically but pronounced differently. Here confusion is not possible in spoken language but could occur in written language.

• bear (verb) – to support or carry

:bear (noun) – the animal

where the words are homonyms, identical in spelling and pronunciation ({{IPAc-en|b|ɛər}}), but different in meaning and grammatical function.

The above examples are of etymologically unrelated words. Some homographs are also etymological doublets, meaning they come from the same source and are spelt the same way in Modern English, but their distinct meanings are tied to their distinct pronunciations:

• Dominican {{IPAc-en|d|@|'|m|I|n|I|k|@|n}} – of the Dominican Order or the Dominican Republic (fully anglicized, based on the Latin pronunciation of Dominicus {{IPAc-la|d|o|ˈ|m|i|n|i|k|u|s}}, named for Saint Dominic)

:Dominican {{IPAc-en|,|d|Q|m|I|'|n|i:|k|@|n}} – of Dominica (slightly modified from the Spanish pronunciation of Dominica {{IPAc-es|d|o|m|i|ˈ|n|i|k|a}}, named for Latin diēs Dominica {{IPAc-la|ˈ|d|i|e|ː|s|_|d|o|ˈ|m|i|n|i|k|a}} meaning "the Lord's Day" or "Sunday")

Both words ultimately come from Latin dominicus {{IPAc-la|d|o|ˈ|m|i|n|i|k|u|s}} meaning "of the Lord."

• violist {{IPAc-en|'|v|ai|@|l|I|s|t}} – viol player

:violist {{IPAc-en||v|i|'|ou|l|I|s|t}} – viola player

Both viol and viola come from Latin vitula.

{{main|List of English homographs}}

Many Chinese varieties have homographs, called {{Linktext|多音字}} ({{lang-zh|p=duōyīnzì}}) or {{Linktext|重形字}} ({{lang-zh|p=chóngxíngzì}}), {{Linktext|破音字}} ({{lang-zh|p=pòyīnzì}}).

Modern study of Old Chinese has found patterns that suggest a system of affixes.{{cite book |title=Chinese|last=Norman|first=Jerry|author-link=Jerry Norman (sinologist)|year=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-22809-1|page=84}} One pattern is the addition of the prefix {{IPA|/*ɦ/}}, which turns transitive verbs into intransitive or passives in some cases:{{cite book |title=A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs)|last=Baxter|first=William H.|year=1992|publisher=de Gruyter Mouton|location=Berlin and New York|isbn=978-3-11-012324-1|pages=218–220}}

Another pattern is the use of a {{IPA|/*s/}} suffix, which seems to create nouns from verbs or verbs from nouns:

Many homographs in Old Chinese also exist in Middle Chinese. Examples of homographs in Middle Chinese are:

Many homographs in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese also exist in modern Chinese varieties. Homographs which did not exist in Old Chinese or Middle Chinese often come into existence due to differences between literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters. Other homographs may have been created due to merging two different characters into the same glyph during script reform (See Simplified Chinese characters and Shinjitai).

Some examples of homographs in Cantonese from Middle Chinese are:

{{Portal|Linguistics}}

• Synonym
• Interlingual homograph
• IDN homograph attack
• Syncretism (linguistics)
• False friend

• {{Cite journal |last=Drury |first=Donald A. |date=1969 |title=Homographs and Pseudo-Homographs |url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=wordways |journal=Word Ways |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=146-154}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Ryan |first=William M. |date=1968 |title=Affixes and the Making of Homographs and Homonyms |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/454547 |journal=American Speech |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=138–141 |doi=10.2307/454547 |issn=0003-1283}}<

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|homograph}}

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Category:Word play

Category:Orthography

Category:Homonymy