Any triple homographs?
Neil Fernandez
interested in whether or not there are any groups of three or more words
which
- are spelled the same (homographic),
- pronounced differently (non-homophonous),
- have unconnected meanings and derivations (non-homomorphic - so not
bases/bases, close/close, incense/incense, present/present,
remark/remark etc.)
- exclude loanwords and foreign words (so not buffet/buffet, nun/nun,
pate/pate, sake/sake),
- exhibit differentiation of spelling and pronunciation which is
'standard' in British English and not dialect-specific (so not
dove/dove, sew/sew, etc.)
Each of these criteria is to be applied strictly.
So far I have got 22 doubles:
are/are
axes/axes
bass/bass
bow/bow
bowed/bowed
console/console
do/do
does/does
entrance/entrance
evening/evening
lather/lather
lead/lead
mow/mow
number/number
raven/raven
row/row
sewer/sewer
slough/slough
sow/sow
tear/tear
wind/wind
wound/wound
and one that I am iffy about:
relay/relay
I should be grateful for additions to this list and suggestions that
words should be removed from it, as well as news of the existence of any
triples.
Many thanks,
Neil
--
Neil Fernandez
Neil Fernandez
2001), Neil Fernandez <ncf@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk> writes:
>Are there any triple homographs in British English? In particular I am
>interested in whether or not there are any groups of three or more words
>which
>
>- are spelled the same (homographic),
>- pronounced differently (non-homophonous),
>- have unconnected meanings and derivations (non-homomorphic - so not
> bases/bases, close/close, incense/incense, present/present,
> remark/remark etc.)
I am following the usage of 'homomorphic' by Quirk et al in 'A
Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language', which I gather is
non-standard...
>- exclude loanwords and foreign words (so not buffet/buffet, nun/nun,
> pate/pate, sake/sake),
>- exhibit differentiation of spelling and pronunciation which is
> 'standard' in British English and not dialect-specific (so not
> dove/dove, sew/sew, etc.)
>
>Each of these criteria is to be applied strictly.
>
>So far I have got 22 doubles:
Of these, perhaps the only ones with same-part-of-speech meanings
corresponding to the different pronunciations are:
>bass/bass
>bow/bow
>bowed/bowed
>do/do 'I went to a do'
>evening/evening 'the evening of chances'
>lather/lather
>lead/lead
(leading/leading should be added)
>mow/mow
>row/row
>sewer/sewer
>slough/slough
>sow/sow
>tear/tear
>wind/wind
>and one that I am iffy about:
>
>relay/relay
and of these, the only ones with verbal infinitive meanings
corresponding to the different pronunciations are:
bow/bow
lead/lead
row/row
wind/wind
and perhaps (still iffy about its being on the list at all! :-) )
relay/relay
Neil
--
Neil Fernandez
Martin Ambuhl
)
> - exclude loanwords and foreign words (so not buffet/buffet, nun/nun,
> pate/pate, sake/sake),
English excluding loanwords is a very small language.
Neil Fernandez
2001), Neil Fernandez <ncf@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk> writes:
>In article <KGkI3IA9...@borve.demon.co.uk> (21:29:33, Sun, 2 Dec
>2001), Neil Fernandez <ncf@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
>>Are there any triple homographs in British English? In particular I am
>>interested in whether or not there are any groups of three or more words
>>which
>>
>>- are spelled the same (homographic),
>>- pronounced differently (non-homophonous),
>>- have unconnected meanings and derivations (non-homomorphic - so not
>> bases/bases, close/close, incense/incense, present/present,
>> remark/remark etc.)
/
>and of these, the only ones with verbal infinitive meanings
>corresponding to the different pronunciations are:
>
>bow/bow
>lead/lead
>row/row
>wind/wind
>
>and perhaps (still iffy about its being on the list at all! :-) )
>
>relay/relay
mow/mow should be added, since 'mow' rhyming with 'how' has a verbal
meaning (to make grimaces) as well as a nominal meaning (a pile of hay).
Neil
--
Neil Fernandez
Neil Fernandez
2001), Neil Fernandez <ncf@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk> writes:
>Are there any triple homographs in British English? In particular I am
>interested in whether or not there are any groups of three or more words
>which
>
>- are spelled the same (homographic),
>- pronounced differently (non-homophonous),
>- have unconnected meanings and derivations (non-homomorphic - so not
> bases/bases, close/close, incense/incense, present/present,
> remark/remark etc.)
>- exclude loanwords and foreign words (so not buffet/buffet, nun/nun,
> pate/pate, sake/sake),
>- exhibit differentiation of spelling and pronunciation which is
> 'standard' in British English and not dialect-specific (so not
> dove/dove, sew/sew, etc.)
/
>I should be grateful for additions to this list and suggestions that
>words should be removed from it, as well as news of the existence of any
>triples.
Found one! evening/evening/evening (end of daytime; levelling; happening
- from the beautiful verb 'to evene').
Neil
--
Neil Fernandez
Nick Wedd
<ncf@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk> writes
periodic/periodic (.. acid, .. table)
Nick
--
Nick Wedd ni...@maproom.co.uk
