Homographs - the complete list!

[F.A.HICINBOTHEM]

A while ago I posted a request for sets of words which are spelled
identically, but have different pronunciations which result in
different meanings. The following is my compiled list thus far,
note that they are all fairly common words - I took the liberty
of not posting the class "D" homographs, 'cause I didn't want to.

This is the complete list. There could not possibly be any more.

=Fred Hicinbothem (and thanks to those who sent me words!)
==================

Class A Homograph: different first-listed pronunciations (not just accent);
non-related first definitions.
Class A- Homograph: a class A that doesn't feel completely honest
Class B Homograph: allow related first definitions.
Class C Homograph: allow foreign or proper; allow accent-only differences;
allow accent marks or internal punctuation.
Class D Homograph: needs optional spelling or optional pronunciation to work;
or is not generally regarded as a "common" word.


A appropriate {take posession of; suitable}
A bass {~ fiddle; fishing for ~}
A bow {~ and arrow; ~ to the king}
A bowed {~ legs; ~ to the king}
A close { ~ call; ~ the door}
A desert {leave alone; Mohave ~}
A does {Does the buck see the does?}
A dove {~ in the lake; wild pidgeon}
A intimate {~ relations; to suggest}
A lead {~ pipe; ~ astray}
A live {~ in peace; ~ audience}
A mobile {movable; wind-blown sculpture}
A moped {brooded; fun vehicle}
A number {decimal ~; more numb}
A present {to give to; Christmas ~}
A produce {give rise to; fruits and vegetables}
A progress {to move forward; work in ~}
A project {planned undertaking; to throw forward}
A read {~ book today; ~ book yesterday}
A refuse {garbage; not agree to}
A resume {work summary; restart}
A row {a fight; ~,~,~ your boat}
A sow {~ seeds; female pig}
A supply {in a supple way; ~ and demand}
A tear {~ down; shed a ~}
A tier {one who ties; row or rank}
A wind {~ the clock; north ~}

A- represent {~ in court; present again}
A- resign {to quit; to sign again}
A- resolve {solve again; ~ disputed points}
A- sewer {one who sews; storm ~}
A- shower {one who shows; ~ stall}
A- singer {one who singes; one who sings}
A- tower {one who tows; leaning ~}

B graduate {the noun; the verb}
B invite {~ someone; receive an ~}
B record {~ album; ~ the event}
B reject {to rebuff; one who was rebuffed}
B replicate {to duplicate; having many instances}
B reuse {use again; further or repeated use}
B use {~ wisely; put to good ~}

C address {~ an audience; street ~}
C attribute {good ~; ~ my success}
C august {the month; marked by grandeur}
C conduct {good ~ medal; ~ an orchestra}
C console {control ~; ~ the injured}
C contract {written ~; ~ an illness}
C defect {~ to Russia; ~ in workmanship}
C herb {plant form; male name}
C invalid {not valid; sickly}
C lame {having sore leg; gold ~}
C object {~ of affection; ~ vehemently}
C pate {~ de foie gras; bald ~}
C piece {~ of cake; ~ de resistance}
C polish { shine; from Poland}
C refill {~ your glass; give me a ~}
C refund {~ your money; tax ~}
C relay {lay again; ~ race}
C remake {make again; movie ~}
C retort {snappy comeback; lab vessel}
C subject {~ to torture; ~ of study}

[Noam Elkies]

In article <15...@lznv.ATT.COM> f...@lznv.ATT.COM (F.A.HICINBOTHEM) writes:
>[...]

>This is the complete list. There could not possibly be any more.

>[...]

Surely not all of the following were on your (unposted) D list?:

fornicate {arched or vaulted, in architecture; commit extramarital sex}
[likewise `fornication']
incense {provoke; burn ~}
offensive {Tet ~; an ~ remark}
periodic {~ table; ~ acid (HIO_4)}
pitch {~ black; ~ a tent; ~ a baseball; perfect ~; and others}
unionized {~ labor; ~ hydrogen}

--Noam D. Elkies (elk...@harvard.zariski.edu / ELK...@ZARISKI.BITNET)
Dept. of Math., Harvard Univ.

P.S. 1. Yes, I guess onomatop{\oe}ia was cheating. But then the u following a q
isn't acting as a vowel, either (Quran, Urquhart, etc. excepted).
It seems hard to draw a clear and reasonable line here.
2. 846-2469? It's a mystery (697-8379).

[John Oswalt]

>unionized {~ labor; ~ hydrogen}

I remember this from an essay by Isaac Asimov. It was part of a
test he developed to tell if someone was a scientist. Give a person
a piece of paper containing the word "unionized" and ask him or
her to pronounce it.
--

John Oswalt (..!sun!megatest!jao)

[Nichael Cramer]

In article <14...@husc6.harvard.edu> elk...@zariski.harvard.edu (Noam Elkies) writes:
>In article <15...@lznv.ATT.COM> f...@lznv.ATT.COM (F.A.HICINBOTHEM) writes:

>>This is the complete list. There could not possibly be any more [sic;)]
>...

>unionized {~ labor; ~ hydrogen}

[I think this one deserves special credit!]

[Not to argue with Fred, but .....]

Homographs - The Complete List! [Appendix II]

Type 1] Single vowel sound change:

DO { perform ; first note of musical scale }
LIVED { the long L. man L. in Cleveland for many years }
MODERATE { M. a panel ; a M. republican }
PRIMER { book for beginners ; base coat of paint }
SEPARATE { S. checks ; S. the men from the boys }
SYNDICATE { the S. will S. their new television show }
TARRY { covered in tar ; dawdle }
WOUND { injury ; wrapped around }

Type 2] "S"-sound goes to "Z" sound:

ABUSE { child A. occurs when you A. a child }
EXCUSE { E. me, but I have a good E. }
HOUSE { dwelling ; to give shelter to }

Type 3] Change of accent.

3a] Change of accent, with very different meanings:

AFFECT { alter ; emotion }
CONTENT { table of Cs ; satisfied }
COMPACT { tightly pressed together ; (quasi-)legal aggreement }
COMPRESS { press together ; dressing for a wound }
EFFECT { side E. ; to cause or bring about }
ENTRANCE { the front E. to the house ; hypnotize }
EXPLOIT { daring adventure ; use to one advantage }
IMPORT { bring into the country ; intrinsic value }
INTERN { place inside ; doctor in training }
MINUTE { 60 seconds ; tiny }

3b] Change of accent, but very similar meanings (usually noun/verb pairs):

CONTEST { CONtest ; conTEST }
CONVERT { CONvert ; conVERT }
CONVICT { CONvict ; conVICT }
COMBAT { COMbat ; comBAT }
COMMUNE { COMmune ; coMMUNE }
CONFLICT { CONflict ; conFLICT }
ESCORT { EScort ; esCORT }
PERMIT { PERmit ; perMIT }
REBEL { REBel ; reBEL }
TRANSPLANT { TRANSplant ; transPLANT }
TRANSPORT { TRANSport ;transPORT }
SUSPECT { SUSpect ; susPECT }

Type 4] Change the number of syllables:

BLESSED { he B. the child and said 'B. are the peacemakers...' }
LEARNED { I L. math from a very L. man }
PEAKED { sharply pointed ; unhealthy looking }
DRAWER { one who draws ; chest of Ds. }

Type 5] Proper names:

JOB { biblical character ; employment }
LIMA { L. bean ; L. Peru }

Type 6] Miscellany:

BUFFET { jostle ; B. lunch } [[Combination of types 1 and 3]]

Enjoy
NICHAEL

NOTE: Much of the above comes from the children's book "The Dove Dove:
Funny Homograph Riddles" by Marvin Terban. His book contains a
total of seventy two homographs.

P.S. While I was typing this, another interesting one came to mind:

YE { archaic second person plural ; archaic spelling of "the" }

Of course, this is cheating a little; aside from the archaic usages, there
is the problem of orthography. Lispmachines may have enourmous character
sets, but I'm yet to see one with a proper Thorn ;). So until then, we'll
have to use "Y". -- N

[A. R. Thompson]

In article <37...@bbn.COM> ncr...@labs-n.bbn.com (Nichael Cramer) writes:

A couple of additions:

>Type 1] Single vowel sound change:
>
>DO { perform ; first note of musical scale }
>LIVED { the long L. man L. in Cleveland for many years }
>MODERATE { M. a panel ; a M. republican }
>PRIMER { book for beginners ; base coat of paint }

Also the primer charge in a bullet.

>Type 5] Proper names:
>
>JOB { biblical character ; employment }
>LIMA { L. bean ; L. Peru }

POLISH {Of Polish descent. Professors never polish their shoes.

[Jeffrey M. Goldsmith]

An objection to several of your "A-" types:
Constructions of the type prefix-word are hyphenated if
the resultant word already exists and has another meaning.
So: recreate -- to have fun
re-create -- make again
In fact, un-ionized is one of the examples that the Chicago
Manual of Style lists. (Page 180, 13th edition.)
(Which is why I pronounce "unionized" so that Asimov would
think that I am not a scientist.)

--Jeff

[Straka]

In article <31...@clint.megatest.UUCP> j...@clint.UUCP (John Oswalt) writes:
>>unionized {~ labor; ~ hydrogen}
>
>I remember this from an essay by Isaac Asimov. It was part of a
>test he developed to tell if someone was a scientist. Give a person

If you take a close (call, not "the door"), doesn't union-ized have the same
basic concept as un-ion-ized?

The former means a group of people gatherered
together for a common purpose against a common business.

The latter means the opposite of ionized. Ionized means two atoms (or groups
thereof) being separated with opposite charges. So, ... un-ion-ized sort of
means being together, eh? Coinzidenza? I think not! (to quote padre Guido
Sarducci).

I don't have Webster's (or John Chardy :-() handy. Any comments?
--
Rich Straka att!ihlpf!straka

MSDOS: All the wonderfully arcane syntax of UNIX(R), but without the power.

[Charles S. Harris]

I don't see primer (intro book/material or device for priming) on
your list. This homograph and its pronunciations actually came
up in a conversation earlier this week.

--charlie harris att!mtunb!xchar attmail!xchar
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lincroft, NJ 07738

[cwa...@excelsior.esc7.net]

Found some spelling errors in your information: Possession in your definition of appropriate.
The bird pigeon does not have a "d" in it.
Interestingly pidgin/pigeon are homograph that are not on your list and I don't believe they would fall in you "D" category.
Pidgin: a grammatically simplified language (pidgin sign-language) or can be used between two people that don't speak the same language and pigeon is the bird.