Complete List of HOMOGRAPHS pairs
HOMOGRAPHS pairs are English words which have two pronunciations but one spelling
Contents
- Definitions
- Double-stress words
- Stress homographs
- Words ending in -ate
- Words ending in -ment
- Voicing distinctions
- Words with re- prefixes
- -ed adjectives and French loan words
- "True" homographs
- A tonemic homograph
- Homographs from abbreviations
- Homographic place names
- Homographs in cryptic crossword clues
- Phonetic transcription key
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Definitions
Homographs are those words which have one spelling but two pronunciations and two distinct meanings or usages. A classic case would be a word like wound , which as a noun or present tense verb means injury or injure and with a different pronunciation is the past tense of the verb wind , itself a homograph. The term is contrasted with homophones , words with two spellings and two meanings but only one pronunciation such as fair/fare , and with homonyms , words with one spelling, one pronunciation, but two unrelated meanings, such as bear or just or left . The fact that the meanings are unrelated is what distinguishes homonyms from polysemes , words with varied meanings or usages, such as course or table or paper, where all the meanings can be traced back to the same root. English has an enormous number of polysemes, but only a relatively small set of true homonyms.Not everybody uses this set of definitions, though they would be accepted by the majority of trained linguistic scholars. In wider usage (reflected in many dictionaries) the term homograph includes what I have here called homonyms and polysemes , i.e. words of different meaning but the same spelling and pronunciation, such as right and fly . For those people the term for what I am calling homographs is heteronyms , a term not much used by professional linguists. ( Heterophone would be a much more appropriate label since what is different is the sound, not the name.)
Homographs are a minor problem for anyone learning English as a foreign language, but a much greater problem for anyone trying to design a foolproof text-to-speech algorithm for a computer. If one pronunciation is far commoner than the other (as with the word second , for instance) the programmer will probably ignore the exceptional case. Where both pronunciations occur frequently, as with object or read or row , the programmer must try to find contextual markers on which to base a rule.
The source of this list was the Roger Mitton machine-readable version of the 1974 Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, incorporating Mitton's 1991 additions. The dictionary contained 537 words which had more than one pronunciation listed. Some of these were simply words with varying pronunciations and no shift of meaning, such as breeches , dowsing , garage and piano or varying stress patterns such as bow-wow, bye-bye , and fricassee , and these were discarded. There were also four strong-form/weak-form pairs , a, an, to and 'cos (it is not clear why these were the only such pairs to emerge), three cases of abbreviations matching ordinary words, am (before noon), in (inch), and no (number), and one case of a loan word overlapping with an established English word, real (probably referring to the old Spanish coin rather than the football team).
The remaining 488 words plus about 140 more which were either not in the dictionary or not given two pronunciations in the dictionary have been classified into relevant groupings and are listed below. The spellings and phonetic transcriptions are mainly as they appear in the dictionary, though I have used Gimsonian IPA symbols rather than the Alvey transcription that Mitton had to use so that he could store his dictionary as a text file. There is also a complete alphabetical checklist of homographs which you can consult if looking for a particular word.
Double stress
A number of double-stress words showed up. These are words whose pronunciation varies with their position in the phrase, front-stressed before a noun and end-stressed when final in the phrase, though without substantial change of meaning. (Compare "an overnight bag" with "Are you staying overnight?")
| inland | 'ɪnlənd | ,ɪn'lænd |
| outside | 'aʊtsaɪd | ,aʊt'saɪd |
| overall | 'əʊvərɔl | ,əʊvə'rɔl |
| overhead | 'əʊvəhed | ,əʊvə'hed |
| overnight | 'əʊvənaɪt | ,əʊvə'naɪt |
| overweight | 'əʊvəweɪt | ,əʊvə'weɪt |
There are a number of other English words which behave in the same way, such as afternoon, bamboo, downhill, downstairs, inside, overseas, princess, routine, sardine, underground, upstairs, together with many compound adjectives ( easy-going, home-made ), all nationality adjectives ending in - ese , numbers from 13 to 99 (apart from multiples of 10), and many place names such as Bombay , Hong Kong , New York , and Torquay . In these other cases the dictionary did not record both stress patterns. Probably only the word overall (with its secondary meaning of an item of clothing) should be counted as a homograph, since in the other cases the change of pronunciation signals only a syntactic feature rather than a shift of meaning.
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Stress homographs
The next distinct group, which was by far the largest, was the set of nouns (or adjectives) with front-stress against verbs with end-stress with 295 words altogether. One suspects that in a good many cases the distinction is unnecessary for intelligibility; the set of -port words ( export, import, transport ) for instance are often heard with front stress even when being used as verbs, and I have heard on air the word increase stressed both ways as noun and both ways as verb. Similarly combat is always front-stressed as a noun, but may have either stress pattern when used as a verb. All these words are more likely to have stress on the second syllable when an inflection adds a third syllable, thus trans'porting , in'creasing or com'bating . In thirty-five cases (listed in the table below) there is a large difference in meaning and use between the two spoken forms while in other cases the difference is more syntactic than lexical.
In most cases any adjective senses ally themselves with the noun and exhibit front stress, but in one case, content , the adjective sense is end-stressed and relates more closely to the verb than to the noun. The adjective compact seems to occur both front-stressed and end-stressed with no change of meaning, although the noun is always front-stressed and the verb always end-stressed. Similarly, the noun complex is always front-stressed, though the adjective seems to vary freely between front stress and end stress. Perhaps the most memorable example of its occurrence with end stress is in the line from the Tom Lehrer song about Oedipus Rex, "You must have heard of his complex complex." (The force of the metre here tends to give both words end-stress.) All the other adjectives in the full list, absent , abstract , compound , converse , frequent , perfect , present , quadruple and second , were front-stressed.
Several problems occur with the prefix re- , for instance in the word recall where usage is inconsistent and is probably changing, and with refresh which is coming into the language as a front-stressed noun meaning a second cup of coffee in a restaurant. There are four other cases of a large shift of meaning between the front-stressed noun and end-stressed verb, namely record , recount , refuse and relay , and a further seventeen cases are in the long list where there is no significant difference in meaning. Other cases of re- verbs not involving a change of stress are listed in a separate section below .
There are four cases needing further comment.
- The word entrance , while looking like a stress homograph, should perhaps be counted as a true homograph , since the noun sense derives from the verb enter while the verb sense derives from the noun trance .
- The word deserts exists as two different nouns, one front-stressed meaning 'dry places', and the other end-stressed meaning 'what one deserves' and occurring usually in the fixed phrase 'get one's just deserts'. This second use has a homophone in the word desserts meaning 'sweet courses', which gives rise to many spelling errors and headline puns.
- The word process exists as a noun with front-stress and as two different verbs, one with front-stress with a meaning linked to the noun process and one with end-stress with a meaning linked to the noun procession .
- Similarly the word second exists as two separate verbs, one with front stress meaning to support a proposal at a formal meeting, and one with end stress meaning to send somebody away on temporary duty. The second use is fairly unusual, being mainly confined to military and civil service contexts.
The meanings of the thirty-five special cases are as follows:
| Noun | Adjective | Verb | |
|---|---|---|---|
| abstract | summary | not concrete | to steal |
| affect | emotion (psychol.) | to change | |
| collect | prayer of the day | to gather | |
| compact | container for face-powder | occupying a small space | to compress |
| complex | set of psychological symptoms | complicated | |
| compound |
(1) substance combining chemical elements
(2) enclosed group of buildings |
not linear in progression | to make more complex |
| concert | musical performance | to combine | |
| conduct | behaviour |
to direct an orchestra or choir
to allow electrons to pass along a wire |
|
| console | control desk | to comfort | |
| content | what is contained | (to make) happy | |
| contract | formal agreement | to become smaller | |
| converse | opposite | to talk to another person | |
| defile | path between cliffs | to make dirty | |
| desert | dry place | to run away from | |
| deserts |
(1) dry places (front-stressed)
(2) what one deserves (end-stressed) |
runs away from | |
| entrance | way in | to give delight | |
| essay | piece of writing | to attempt | |
| exploit | brave deed | to take advantage | |
| frequent | often occurring | to visit regularly | |
| incense | aromatic smoke | to enrage | |
| intern | US trainee doctor | to imprison | |
| object | thing, purpose | to be against | |
| present | gift, time now | in this place | to hand over |
| process | method |
(1) to modify (front-stressed)
(2) to move in procession (end-stressed) |
|
| proceeds | money earned by selling something | moves forwards | |
| produce | what is grown or made on a farm | to make | |
| project | plan | to stick out | |
| recall | request to return faulty goods to a factory | to remember | |
| record |
(1) music on disc or a written log of events
(2) best ever performance or result |
to write down | |
| recount |
second counting of votes in a close election
(often spelled re-count ) |
to tell (a story, experience, etc) | |
| refresh | second (free) cup of tea or coffee | to make something seem new | |
| refuse | rubbish | not to agree | |
| relay | race in which a baton is passed between team members | to pass information/lay a carpet again | |
| second | part of a minute | number two in sequence |
(1) to support a proposal at a formal meeting
(front-stressed)
(2) to send away on temporary duty (end-stressed) |
| subject | topic | to force a person to accept | |
This is the full list of 295 words:
| absent | 'æbsənt | əb'sent |
| abstract | 'æbstrækt | əb'strækt |
| abstracts | 'æbstrækts | əb'strækts |
| accent | 'æksənt | æk'sent |
| accents | 'æksənts | æk'sents |
| addict | 'ædɪkt | ə'dɪkt |
| addicts | 'ædɪkts | ə'dɪkts |
| advert | 'ædvɜt | əd'vɜt |
| adverts | 'ædvɜts | əd'vɜts |
| affect | 'æfekt | ə'fekt |
| affects | 'æfekts | ə'fekts |
| affix | 'æfɪks | ə'fɪks |
| affixes | æfɪksɪz | ə'fɪksɪz |
| allies | 'ælaɪz | ə'laɪz |
| alloy | 'æloɪ | ə'loɪ |
| alloys | 'æloɪz | ə'loɪz |
| ally | 'ælaɪ | ə'laɪ |
| annex | 'æneks | ə'neks |
| annexes | 'æneksɪz | ə'neksɪz |
| attribute | 'ætrɪbjut | ə'trɪbjut |
| attributes | 'ætrɪbjuts | ə'trɪbjuts |
| collect | 'kɒlekt | kə'lekt |
| collects | 'kɒlekts | kə'lekts |
| combat | 'kɒmbæt | kəm'bæt |
| combats | 'kɒmbæts | kəm'bæts |
| combine | 'kɒmbaɪn | kəm'baɪn |
| combines | 'kɒmbaɪnz | kəm'baɪnz |
| commune | 'kɒmjun | kə'mjun |
| communes | 'kɒmjunz | kə'mjunz |
| compact | 'kɒmpækt | kəm'pækt |
| compacts | 'kɒmpækts | kəm'pækts |
| complex | 'kɒmpleks | kəm'pleks |
| compound | 'kɒmpaʊnd | kəm'paʊnd |
| compounds | 'kɒmpaʊndz | kəm'paʊndz |
| compress | 'kɒmpres | kəm'pres |
| compresses | 'kɒmpresɪz | kəm'presɪz |
| concert | 'kɒnsət | kən'sɜt |
| concerts | 'kɒnsəts | kən'sɜts |
| conduct | 'kɒndʌkt | kən'dʌkt |
| confines | 'kɒnfaɪnz | kən'faɪnz |
| conflict | 'kɒnflɪkt | kən'flɪkt |
| conflicts | 'kɒnflɪkts | kən'flɪkts |
| conscript | 'kɒnskrɪpt | kən'skrɪpt |
| conscripts | 'kɒnskrɪpts | kən'skrɪpts |
| console | 'kɒnsəʊl | kən'səʊl |
| consoles | 'kɒnsəʊlz | kən'səʊlz |
| consort | 'kɒnsɔt | kən'sɔt |
| consorts | 'kɒnsɔts | kən'sɔts |
| construct | 'kɒnstrʌkt | kən'strʌkt | constructs | 'kɒnstrʌkts | kən'strʌkts |
| content | 'kɒntent | kən'tent |
| contents | 'kɒntents | kən'tents |
| contest | 'kɒntest | kən'test |
| contests | 'kɒntests | kən'tests |
| contract | 'kɒntrækt | kən'trækt |
| contracts | 'kɒntrækts | kən'trækts |
| contrast | 'kɒntrɑst | kən'trɑst |
| contrasts | 'kɒntrɑsts | kən'trɑsts |
| converse | 'kɒnvɜs | kən'vɜs |
| convert | 'kɒnvɜt | kən'vɜt |
| converts | 'kɒnvɜts | kən'vɜts |
| convict | 'kɒnvɪkt | kən'vɪkt |
| convicts | 'kɒnvɪkts | kən'vɪkts |
| counterbalance | 'kaʊntəbæləns | ,kaʊntə'bæləns |
| counterbalances | 'kaʊntəbælənsɪz | ,kaʊntə'bælənsɪz |
| decoy | 'dikoɪ | dɪ'koɪ |
| decoys | 'dikoɪz | dɪ'koɪz |
| decrease | 'dikris | dɪ'kris |
| decreases | 'dikrisɪz | dɪ'krisɪz |
| defect | 'difekt | dɪ'fekt |
| defects | 'difekts | dɪ'fekts |
| defile | 'difaɪl | dɪ'faɪl |
| defiles | 'difaɪlz | dɪ'faɪlz |
| descant | 'deskænt | dɪ'skænt |
| descants | 'deskænts | dɪ'skænts |
| desert | 'dezət | dɪ'zɜt |
| deserts | 'dezəts | dɪ'zɜts |
| dictate | 'dɪkteɪt | dɪk'teɪt |
| dictates | 'dɪkteɪts | dɪk'teɪts |
| digest | 'daɪʤest | dɪ'ʤest |
| digests | 'daɪʤests | dɪ'ʤests |
| discard | 'dɪskɑd | dɪ'skɑd |
| discards | 'dɪskɑdz | dɪ'skɑdz |
| discharge | 'dɪsʧɑʤ | dɪ'sʧɑʤ |
| discharges | 'dɪsʧɑʤɪz | dɪ'sʧɑʤɪz |
| discount | 'dɪskaʊnt | dɪs'kaʊnt |
| discounts | 'dɪskaʊnts | dɪs'kaʊnts |
| discourse | 'dɪskɔs | dɪ'skɔs |
| discourses | 'dɪskɔsɪz | dɪ'skɔsɪz |
| entrance | 'entrəns | ɪn'trɑns |
| entrances | 'entrənsɪz | ɪn'trɑnsɪz |
| envelope | 'ɒnvələʊp | ɪn'veləp |
| envelopes | 'ɒnvələʊps | ɪn'veləps |
| escort | 'eskɔt | ɪ'skɔt |
| escorts | 'eskɔts | ɪ'skɔts |
| essay | 'eseɪ | e'seɪ |
| essays | 'eseɪz | e'seɪz |
| excess | 'ekses | ɪk'ses |
| excise | 'eksaɪz | ɪk'saɪz |
| exploit | 'eksploɪt | ɪk'sploɪt |
| exploits | 'eksploɪts | ɪk'sploɪts |
| export | 'ekspɔt | ɪk'spɔt |
| exports | 'ekspɔts | ɪk'spɔts |
| extract | 'ekstrækt | ɪk'strækt |
| extracts | 'ekstrækts | ɪk'strækts |
| ferment | 'fɜment | fə'ment |
| ferments | 'fɜments | fə'ments |
| filtrate | 'fɪltreɪt | fɪl'treɪt |
| filtrates | 'fɪltreɪts | fɪl'treɪts |
| fragment | 'frægmənt | fræg'ment |
| fragments | 'frægmənts | fræg'ments |
| frequent | 'frikwənt | frɪ'kwent |
| impact | 'ɪmpækt | ɪm'pækt |
| impacts | 'ɪmpækts | ɪm'pækts |
| implant | 'ɪmplɑnt | ɪm'plɑnt |
| implants | 'ɪmplɑnts | ɪm'plɑnts |
| import | 'ɪmpɔt | ɪm'pɔt |
| imports | 'ɪmpɔts | ɪm'pɔts |
| impress | 'ɪmpres | ɪm'pres |
| impresses | 'ɪmpresɪz | ɪm'presɪz |
| imprint | 'ɪmprɪnt | ɪm'prɪnt |
| imprints | 'ɪmprɪnts | ɪm'prɪnts |
| incense | 'ɪnsens | ɪn'sens |
| incline | 'ɪnklaɪn | ɪn'klaɪn |
| inclines | 'ɪnklaɪnz | ɪn'klaɪnz/td> |
| increase | 'ɪŋkris | ɪn'kris |
| increases | 'ɪŋkrisɪz | ɪn'krisɪz |
| indent | 'ɪndent | ɪn'dent |
| indents | 'ɪndents | ɪn'dents |
| inlay | 'ɪnleɪ | ,ɪn'leɪ |
| inlays | 'ɪnleɪz | ,ɪn'leɪz |
| insert | 'ɪnsɜt | ɪn'sɜt |
| inserts | 'ɪnsɜts | ɪn'sɜts |
| inset | 'ɪnset | ,ɪn'set |
| insets | 'ɪnsets | ,ɪn'sets |
| instinct | 'ɪnstɪŋkt | ,ɪn'stɪŋkt |
| insult | 'ɪnsʌlt | ɪn'sʌlt |
| insults | 'ɪnsʌlts | ɪn'sʌlts |
| interchange | 'ɪntəʧeɪnʤ | ,ɪntə'ʧeɪnʤ |
| interchanges | 'ɪntəʧeɪnʤɪz | ,ɪntə'ʧeɪnʤɪz |
| interdict | 'ɪntədɪkt | ,ɪntə'dɪkt |
| interdicts | 'ɪntədɪkts | ,ɪntə'dɪkts |
| intern | 'ɪntɜn | ɪn'tɜn |
| interns | 'ɪntɜnz | ɪn'tɜnz |
| introvert | 'ɪntrəvɜt | ,ɪntrə'vɜt |
| introverts | 'ɪntrəvɜts | ,ɪntrə'vɜts |
| inverse | 'ɪnvɜs | ɪn'vɜs |
| invite | 'ɪnvaɪt | ɪn'vaɪt |
| invites | 'ɪnvaɪts | ɪn'vaɪts |
| mandate | 'mændeɪt | ,mæn'deɪt |
| misconduct | ,mɪs'kɒndʌkt | ,mɪskən'dʌkt |
| misprint | 'mɪsprɪnt | ,mɪs'prɪnt |
| misprints | 'mɪsprɪnts | ,mɪs'prɪnts |
| object | 'ɒbʤɪkt | əb'ʤekt |
| objects | 'ɒbʤɪkts | əb'ʤekts |
| overbid | 'əʊvəbɪd | ,əʊvə'bɪd |
| overbids | 'əʊvəbɪdz | ,əʊvə'bɪdz |
| overcharge | 'əʊvəʧɑʤ | ,əʊvə'ʧɑʤ |
| overcharges | 'əʊvəʧɑʤɪz | ,əʊvə'ʧɑʤɪz |
| overflow | 'əʊvəfləʊ | ,əʊvə'fləʊ |
| overflows | 'əʊvəfləʊz | ,əʊvə'fləʊz |
| overhang | 'əʊvəhæŋ | ,əʊvə'hæŋ |
| overhangs | 'əʊvəhæŋz | ,əʊvə'hæŋz |
| overhaul | 'əʊvəhɔl | ,əʊvə'hɔl |
| overhauls | 'əʊvəhɔlz | ,əʊvə'hɔlz |
| overlap | 'əʊvəlæp | əʊvə'læp |
| overlaps | 'əʊvəlæps | ,əʊvə'læps |
| overlay | 'əʊvəleɪ | ,əʊvə'leɪ |
| overlays | 'əʊvəleɪz | ,əʊvə'leɪz |
| overprint | 'əʊvəprɪnt | ,əʊvə'prɪnt/td> |
| overprints | 'əʊvəprɪnts | ,əʊvə'prɪnts |
| overstrain | 'əʊvəstreɪn | ,əʊvə'streɪn |
| overthrow | 'əʊvəƟrəʊ | ,əʊvə'Ɵrəʊ |
| overthrows | 'əʊvəƟrəʊz | ,əʊvə'Ɵrəʊz |
| overwork | 'əʊvəwɜk | ,əʊvə'wɜk |
| perfect | 'pɜfɪkt | pə'fekt |
| perfume | 'pɜfjum | pə'fjum |
| perfumes | 'pɜfjumz | pə'fjumz |
| permit | 'pɜmɪt | pə'mɪt |
| permits | 'pɜmɪts | pə'mɪts |
| pervert | 'pɜvɜt | pə'vɜt |
| perverts | 'pɜvɜts | pə'vɜts |
| prefix | 'prifɪks | ,pri'fɪks |
| prefixes | 'prifɪksɪz | ,pri'fɪksɪz |
| presage | 'presɪʤ | prɪ'seɪʤ |
| presages | 'presɪʤɪz | prɪ'seɪʤɪz |
| present | 'preznt | prɪ'zent |
| presents | 'preznts | prɪ'zents |
| proceeds | 'prəʊsidz | prə'sidz |
| process | 'prəʊses | prə'ses |
| processed | 'prəʊsest | prə'sest |
| processes | 'prəʊsesɪz | prə'sesɪz |
| processing | 'prəʊsesɪŋ | prə'sesɪŋ |
| produce | 'prɒdjus | prə'djus |
| progress | 'prəʊgres | prə'gres |
| progresses | 'prəʊgresɪz | prə'gresɪz |
| project | 'prɒʤekt | prə'ʤekt |
| projects | 'prɒʤekts | prə'ʤekts |
| prolapse | 'prəʊlæps | prəʊ'læps |
| prolapses | 'prəʊlæpsɪz | prəʊ'læpsɪz |
| prospect | 'prɒspekt | prə'spekt |
| prospects | 'prɒspekts | prə'spekts |
| prostrate | 'prɒstreɪt | prɒ'streɪt |
| protest | 'prəʊtest | prə'test |
| protests | 'prəʊtests | prə'tests |
| purport | 'pɜpət | pə'pɔt |
| quadruple | 'kwɒdrupl | kwɒ'drupl |
| quadruples | 'kwɒdruplz | kwɒ'druplz |
| rampage | 'ræmpeɪʤ | ,ræm'peɪʤ |
| rampages | 'ræmpeɪʤɪz | ,ræm'peɪʤɪz |
| rebel | 'rebəl | rɪ'bel |
| rebels | 'rebəlz | rɪ'belz |
| rebound | 'ribaʊnd | ,ri'baʊnd |
| rebounds | 'ribaʊndz | rɪ'baʊndz |
| recall | 'rikɔl | rɪ'kɔl |
| recalls | 'rikɔlz | rɪ'kɔlz |
| recap | 'rikæp | ,ri'kæp |
| recapped | 'rikæpt | ,ri'kæpt |
| recapping | 'rikæpɪŋ | ,ri'kæpɪŋ |
| recaps | 'rikæps | ,ri'kæps |
| record | 'rekɔd | rɪ'kɔd |
| records | 'rekɔdz | rɪ'kɔdz |
| recount | 'rikaʊnt | ,ri'kaʊnt |
| recounts | 'rikaʊnts | ,ri'kaʊnts |
| refill | 'rifɪl | ,ri'fɪl |
| refills | 'rifɪlz | ,ri'fɪlz |
| refit | 'rifɪt | ,ri'fɪt |
| refits | 'rifɪts | ,ri'fɪts |
| refresh | 'rifreʃ | rɪ'freʃ |
| refund | 'rifʌnd | rɪ'fʌnd |
| refunds | 'rifʌndz | rɪ'fʌndz |
| refuse | 'refjus | rɪ'fjuz |
| rehash | 'rihæʃ | ,ri'hæʃ |
| rehashes | 'rihæʃɪz | ,ri'hæʃɪz |
| reject | 'riʤekt | rɪ'ʤekt |
| rejects | 'riʤekts | rɪ'ʤekts |
| relay | 'rileɪ | ,ri'leɪ |
| relaying | ,ri'leɪɪŋ | rɪ'leɪɪŋ |
| relays | 'rileɪz | ,ri'leɪz |
| remake | 'rimeɪk | ,ri'meɪk |
| remakes | 'rimeɪks | ,ri'meɪks |
| remount | 'rimaʊnt | ,ri'maʊnt |
| remounts | 'rimaʊnts | ,ri'maʊnts |
| replay | 'ripleɪ | ,ri'pleɪ |
| replays | 'ripleɪz | ,ri'pleɪz |
| reprint | 'riprɪnt | ,ri'prɪnt |
| reprints | 'riprɪnts | ,ri'prɪnts |
| rerun | 'rirʌn | ,ri'rʌn |
| reruns | 'rirʌnz | ,ri'rʌnz |
| retake | 'riteɪk | ,ri'teɪk |
| retakes | 'riteɪks | ,ri'teɪks |
| rethink | 'riƟɪŋk | ,ri'Ɵɪŋk |
| rethinks | 'riƟɪŋks | ,ri'Ɵɪŋks |
| retread | 'ritred | ,ri'tred |
| retreads | 'ritredz | ,ri'tredz |
| rewrite | 'riraɪt | ,ri'raɪt |
| rewrites | 'riraɪts | ,ri'raɪts |
| second | 'sekənd | sɪ'kɒnd |
| seconded | 'sekəndɪd | sɪ'kɒndɪd |
| seconding | 'sekəndɪŋ | sɪ'kɒndɪŋ |
| seconds | 'sekəndz | sɪ'kɒndz |
| segment | 'segmənt | seg'ment |
| segments | 'segmənts | seg'ments |
| subcontract | ,sʌb'kɒntrækt | ,sʌbkən'trækt |
| subcontracts | ,sʌb'kɒntrækts | ,sʌbkən'trækts |
| subject | 'sʌbʤɪkt | səb'ʤekt |
| subjects | 'sʌbʤɪkts | səb'ʤekts |
| surmise | 'sɜmaɪz | sə'maɪz |
| surmises | 'sɜmaɪzɪz | sə'maɪzɪz |
| survey | 'sɜveɪ | sə'veɪ |
| surveys | 'sɜveɪz | sə'veɪz |
| suspect | 'sʌspekt | sə'spekt |
| suspects | 'sʌspekts | sə'spekts |
| torment | 'tɔment | tɔ'ment |
| torments | 'tɔments | tɔ'ments |
| transfer | 'trænsfɜR | træns'fɜR |
| transfers | 'trænsfɜz | træns'fɜz |
| transplant | 'trænsplɑnt | træns'plɑnt |
| transplants | 'trænsplɑnts | træns'plɑnts |
| transport | 'trænspɔt | træn'spɔt |
| transports | 'trænspɔts | træn'spɔts |
| undercharge | 'ʌndəʧɑʤ | ,ʌndə'ʧɑʤ |
| undercharges | 'ʌndəʧɑʤɪz | ,ʌndə'ʧɑʤɪz |
| undercut | 'ʌndəkʌt | ,ʌndə'kʌt |
| underlay | 'ʌndəleɪ | ,ʌndə'leɪ |
| underline | 'ʌndəlaɪn | ,ʌndə'laɪn |
| underlines | 'ʌndəlaɪnz | ,ʌndə'laɪnz |
| undertaking | 'ʌndəteɪkɪŋ | ,ʌndə'teɪkɪŋ |
| undertakings | 'ʌndəteɪkɪŋz | ,ʌndə'teɪkɪŋz |
| upgrade | 'ʌpgreɪd | ,ʌp'greɪd |
| upgrades | 'ʌpgreɪdz | ,ʌp'greɪdz |
| uplift | 'ʌplɪft | ,ʌp'lɪft |
| upset | 'ʌpset | ,ʌp'set |
| upsets | 'ʌpsets | ,ʌp'sets |
There were two interesting words which reversed the trend of this set, words where the front-stressed form was the (3rd person singular) verb and a form with stress later in the word was the (plural) noun:
| analyses | 'ænəlaɪzɪz | ə'næləsiz |
| diagnoses | 'daɪəgnəʊzɪz | ,daɪəg'nəʊsiz |
-ATE words
Another large group was the set of words ending with -ate where the noun/adjective sense uses a schwa while the verb sense uses a full /eɪ/ diphthong. There were 45 of these (or 74 counting the inflectional variants). All of them retain the same stress pattern whether noun/adjective or verb except for alternate and consummate which, like analyses and diagnoses and unlike the other stress homographs, puts the stress at the front for the verb and later for the noun/adjective. I have omitted discriminate , which is very common as a verb but extremely rare as an adjective, although the negative of the adjective, indiscriminate , is common. One that is a relatively recent development (first attested 1909) is the verb sense of curate , meaning to be in charge of an art exhibition, a back-formation from curator . The noun sense, assistant to a minister of religion, is much older.
| advocate | 'ædvəkət | 'ædvəkeɪt |
| advocates | 'ædvəkəts | 'ædvəkeɪts |
| agglomerate | ə'glɒmərət | ə'glɒməreɪt |
| aggregate | 'ægrɪgət | 'ægrɪgeɪt |
| aggregates | 'ægrɪgəts | 'ægrɪgeɪts |
| alternate | ɔl'tɜnət | 'ɔltəneɪt |
| animate | 'ænɪmət | 'ænɪmeɪt |
| appropriate | ə'prəʊprɪət | ə'prəʊprɪeɪt |
| approximate | ə'prɒksɪmət | ə'prɒksɪmeɪt |
| articulate | ɑ'tɪkjʊlət | ɑ'tɪkjʊleɪt |
| aspirate | 'æspɪrət | 'æspɪreɪt |
| aspirates | 'æspɪrəts | 'æspɪreɪts |
| associate | ə'səʊʃɪət | ə'səʊʃɪeɪt |
| associates | ə'səʊʃɪəts | ə'səʊʃɪeɪts |
| certificate | sə'tɪfɪkət | sə'tɪfɪkeɪt |
| certificates | sə'tɪfɪkəts | sə'tɪfɪkeɪts |
| confederate | kən'fedərət | kən'fedəreɪt |
| confederates | kən'fedərəts | kən'fedəreɪts |
| conglomerate | kən'glɒmərət | kən'glɒməreɪt |
| conglomerates | kən'glɒmərəts | kən'glɒməreɪts |
| consummate | 'kɒnsəmeɪt | kən'sʌmət |
| coordinate | ,kəʊ'ɔdənət | ,kəʊ'ɔdɪneɪt |
| coordinates | ,kəʊ'ɔdənəts | ,kəʊ'ɔdɪneɪts |
| curate | 'kjʊərət | kjʊə'reɪt |
| curates | 'kjʊərəts | kjʊə'reɪts |
| degenerate | dɪ'ʤenərət | dɪ'ʤenəreɪt |
| degenerates | dɪ'ʤenərəts | dɪ'ʤenəreɪts |
| delegate | 'delɪgət | 'delɪgeɪt |
| delegates | 'delɪgəts | 'delɪgeɪts |
| deliberate | dɪ'lɪbərət | dɪ'lɪbəreɪt |
| desolate | 'desələt | 'desəleɪt |
| duplicate | 'djuplɪkət | 'djuplɪkeɪt |
| duplicates | 'djuplɪkəts | 'djuplɪkeɪts |
| ejaculate | ɪ'ʤækjulət | ɪ'ʤækjuleɪt |
| ejaculates | ɪ'ʤækjuləts | ɪ'ʤækjuleɪts |
| elaborate | ɪ'læbərət | ɪ'læbəreɪt |
| estimate | 'estɪmət | 'estɪmeɪt |
| estimates | 'estɪməts | 'estɪmeɪts |
| expatriate | eks'pætrɪət | eks'pætrɪeɪt |
| expatriates | eks'pætrɪəts | eks'pætrɪeɪts |
| graduate | 'græʤʊət | 'græʤʊeɪt |
| graduates | 'græʤʊəts | 'græʤʊeɪts |
| incarnate | ɪn'kɑnət | ɪn'kɑneɪt |
| incorporate | ɪn'kɔpərət | ɪn'kɔpəreɪt |
| inebriate | ɪ'nibrɪət | ɪ'nibrɪeɪt |
| inebriates | ɪ'nibrɪəts | ɪ'nibrɪeɪts |
| initiate | ɪ'nɪʃɪət | ɪ'nɪʃɪeɪt |
| initiates | ɪ'nɪʃɪəts | ɪ'nɪʃɪeɪts |
| intimate | 'ɪntɪmət | 'ɪntɪmeɪt |
| intimates | 'ɪntɪməts | 'ɪntɪmeɪts |
| legitimate | lɪ'ʤɪtɪmət | lɪ'ʤɪtɪmeɪt |
| moderate | 'mɒdərət | 'mɒdəreɪt |
| moderates | 'mɒdərəts | 'mɒdəreɪts |
| pontificate | pɒn'tɪfɪkət | pɒn'tɪfɪkeɪt |
| pontificates | pɒn'tɪfɪkəts | pɒn'tɪfɪkeɪts |
| precipitate | prɪ'sɪpɪtət | prɪ'sɪpɪteɪt |
| predicate | 'predɪkət | 'predɪkeɪt |
| predicates | 'predɪkəts | 'predɪkeɪts |
| quadruplicate | kwɒ'druplɪkət | kwɒ'druplɪkeɪt |
| quadruplicates | kwɒ'druplɪkəts | kwɒ'druplɪkeɪts |
| regenerate | rɪ'ʤenərət | rɪ'ʤenəreɪt |
| reincarnate | ,riɪn'kɑnət | ,riɪn'kɑneɪt |
| reticulate | rɪ'tɪkjʊlət | rɪ'tɪkjʊleɪt |
| separate | 'seprət | 'sepəreɪt |
| separates | 'seprəts | 'sepəreɪts |
| subordinate | sə'bɔdɪnət | sə'bɔdɪneɪt |
| subordinates | sə'bɔdɪnəts | sə'bɔdɪneɪts |
| syndicate | 'sɪndɪkət | 'sɪndɪkeɪt |
| syndicates | 'sɪndɪkəts | 'sɪndɪkeɪts |
| triplicate | 'trɪplɪkət | 'trɪplɪkeɪt |
| triplicates | 'trɪplɪkəts | 'trɪplɪkeɪts |
| underestimate | ,ʌndə'restɪmət | ,ʌndə'restɪmeɪt |
| underestimates | ,ʌndə'restɪməts | ,ʌndə'restɪmeɪts |
-MENT words
A similar but smaller group was the set of words ending with -ment where the noun sense uses a schwa while the verb sense uses a full vowel. The dictionary listed five of these (ten including the inflectional variants), though in present day usage this set is no longer consistently differentiated; most speakers nowadays will use a schwa for the verbs to implement or to supplement , and probably for the whole set.
| compliment | 'kɒmplɪmənt | 'kɒmplɪment |
| compliments | 'kɒmplɪmənts | 'kɒmplɪments |
| document | 'dɒkjʊmənt | 'dɒkjʊment |
| documents | 'dɒkjʊmənts | 'dɒkjʊments |
| implement | 'implɪmənt | 'ɪmplɪment |
| implements | 'ɪmplɪmənts | 'ɪmplɪments |
| ornament | 'ɔnəmənt | 'ɔnəment |
| ornaments | 'ɔnəmənts | 'ɔnəments |
| supplement | 'sʌplɪmənt | 'sʌplɪment |
| supplements | 'sʌplɪmənts | 'sʌplɪments |
Return to contents
Voicing
A fifth set was that in which the noun/verb or adjective/verb distinction was made by voicing a final consonant. There were eighteen of these. One of them, the word close , exists as a verb with /z/, as an adjective with /s/, and as two different nouns, with /z/ meaning 'conclusion' and with /s/ meaning 'street with no exit'. In the form closer it may be a comparative adjective with /s/ or an agent noun with /z/. It is also worth noting the way used occurs with /s/ in the colligation 'used to' to make a past tense while the pronunciation with /z/ has the meaning 'employed'. In the nineteenth century a distinction was made between 'a mouse' with final /s/ and 'to mouse' (catch mice) with final /z/, but that is not heard nowadays.
| abuse | ə'bjus | ə'bjuz |
| abuses | ə'bjusɪz | ə'bjuzɪz |
| baths | bɑɵs | bɑðz |
| close | kləʊs | kləʊz |
| closes | 'kləʊsɪz | 'kləʊzɪz |
| closer | 'kləʊsə | 'kləʊzə |
| diffuse | dɪ'fjus | dɪ'fjuz |
| excuse | ɪk'skjus | ɪk'skjuz |
| excuses | ɪk'skjusɪz | ɪk'skjuzɪz |
| house | haʊs | haʊz |
| misuse | ,mɪs'jus | ,mɪs'juz |
| misuses | ,mɪs'jusɪz | ,mɪs'juzɪz |
| mouth | maʊɵ | maʊð |
| mouths | maʊɵs | maʊðz |
| unused | ʌn'just | ʌn'juzd |
| use | jus | juz |
| used | just | juzd |
| uses | 'jusɪz | 'juzɪz |
Words beginning re-
Apart from the words beginning with re- which occur as front-stressed nouns or end-stressed verbs such as rebel, record, refill and reprint , listed under stress homographs above , there are a number of others which are not distinguished by main stress but by the presence of secondary stress on the prefix and a consequent change of pronunciation from /rɪ/ to /ri/ . The first pronunciation tends to be associated with the meaning 'back' and the second with 'again'. The prefix re- with the second pronunciation often has the potential to enter homographs as one returns to earlier meanings of the base form. Thus we talk of reform /rɪ'fɔm/ in the church or the legal system, but a sculptor might reform /,ri'fɔm/ a clay model; you can make a remark /rɪ'mɑk/ in speech, while a teacher may remark /,ri'mɑk/ a contested exam paper. You may resent /rɪ'zent/ unfair criticism, while a garbled message may be resent /,ri'sent/ . This distinction is sometimes signalled by including a hyphen in the spelling for the second meanings, re-form , re-mark and re-sent . Notice that the main stress does not move, and that where the base begins with <s> the pronuciation shifts between /z/ and /s/ as in resent, reserve, resign and resort . More of these forms may be added to the language, though those listed below are the only ones I know of so far that are well attested. There are two other special cases, the verb represent and the noun recreation in which the stress is on the prefix and the distinction is between the pronunciations /re/ and /ri/ .
| recover | rɪ'kʌvə | ,ri'kʌvə |
| recovers | rɪ'kʌvəz | ,ri'kʌvəz |
| recovered | rɪ'kʌvəd | ,ri'kʌvəd |
| recovering | rɪ'kʌvəɪŋ | ,ri'kʌvəɪŋ |
|
(get better after illness/put new covers on soft
furniture)
|
||
| recreation | 'rekrɪ,eɪʃn | 'rikrɪ,eɪʃn |
|
(amusement/copying an effect or mood)
|
||
| reform | rɪ'fɔm | ,ri'fɔm |
| reforms | rɪ'fɔmz | ,ri'fɔmz |
| reformed | rɪ'fɔmd | ,ri'fɔmd |
| reforming | rɪ'fɔmɪŋ | ,ri'fɔmɪŋ |
|
(change a corrupt system/re-make a clay statue)
|
||
| rejoin | rɪ'ʤoɪn | ,ri'ʤoɪn |
| rejoined | rɪ'ʤoɪnd | ,ri'ʤoɪnd |
| rejoining | rɪ'ʤoɪnɪŋ | ,ri'ʤoɪnɪŋ |
| rejoins | rɪ'ʤoɪnz | ,ri'ʤoɪnz |
|
(answer/join again)
|
||
| remark | rɪ'mɑk | ,ri'mɑk |
| remarks | rɪ'mɑks | ,ri'mɑks |
| remarked | rɪ'mɑkt | ,ri'mɑkt |
| remarking | rɪ'mɑkɪŋ | ,ri'mɑkɪŋ |
|
(comment/mark a contested exam paper again)
|
||
| represent | 'reprɪzent | 'riprɪzent |
| represents | 'reprɪzents | 'riprɪzents |
| represented | 'reprɪzentɪd | 'riprɪzentɪd |
| representing | 'reprɪzentɪŋ | 'riprɪzentɪŋ |
|
(stand for/present again)
|
||
| reproof | rɪ'pruf | ,ri'pruf |
| reproofs | rɪ'prufs | ,ri'prufs |
|
(criticism/proofread again)
|
||
| resent | rɪ'zent | ,ri'sent |
|
(feel bitter/transmitted again)
|
||
| reserve | rɪ'z3v | ,ri's3v |
| reserves | rɪ'z3vz | ,ri's3vz |
| reserved | rɪ'z3vd | ,ri's3vd |
| reserving | rɪ'z3vɪŋ | ,ri's3vɪŋ |
|
(make a booking/serve again)
|
||
| resign | rɪ'zaɪn | ,ri'sɪn |
| resigns | rɪ'zaɪnz | ,ri'sɪnz |
| resigned | rɪ'zaɪnd | ,ri'sɪnd |
| resigning | rɪ'zaɪnɪŋ | ,ri'sɪnɪŋ |
|
(step down from a job/sign again)
|
||
| resolve | rɪ'zɒlv | ,ri'sɒlv |
| resolves | rɪ'zɒlvz | ,ri'sɒlvz |
| resolved | rɪ'zɒlvd | ,ri'sɒlvd |
| resolving | rɪ'zɒlvɪŋ | ,ri'sɒlvɪŋ |
|
(determine/solve again)
|
||
| resort | rɪ'zɔt | ,ri'sɔt |
| resorts | rɪ'zɔts | ,ri'sɔts |
| resorted | rɪ'zɔtɪd | ,ri'sɔtɪd |
| resorting | rɪ'zɔtɪŋ | ,ri'sɔtɪŋ |
|
(make use of OR holiday town/sort again)
|
||
Two more small groups could also be identified and separated. The first was the nine -ed adjectives with matching verb past tenses:
| aged | 'eɪʤɪd | eɪʤd |
| blessed | 'blesɪd | blest |
| crabbed | 'kræbɪd | kræbd |
| crooked | 'krʊkɪd | krʊkt |
| cursed | 'kɜsɪd | kɜst |
| dogged | 'dɒgɪd | dɒgd |
| jagged | 'ʤægɪd | ʤægd |
| learned | 'lɜnɪd | lɜnd |
| ragged | 'rægɪd | rægd |
Not in the dictionary with both pronunciations but behaving similarly is the word beloved , which has three syllables as a noun or attributive adjective, but only two as a passive participle. ("I loved and was beloved again": Byron.) The adjective supposed has a rare archaic three-syllable pronunciation which is preserved in the derived adverb, supposedly . Winged was listed only as a one-syllable verb, but is also heard often as a two-syllable adjective in the phrase "Winged Victory". This dictionary listed wicked only as a two-syllable adjective, but the full OED also lists a one-syllable pronunciation, meaning "having a wick". Similarly this dictionary has rugged only as a two-syllable adjective, but the full OED has rug as a verb, which you might use in "We don't need another rug; the room is well rugged already."
The other group was the set of French loan words whose Anglicised plural is not represented in the spelling. Only five were recorded in the lists, but there are also many proper names, especially those associated with products, books or works of art, that behave in the same way, such as Beaujolais , Chablis , Charollais , Rabelais , Beaumarchais or Millais . There are also phrases such as faux pas and pince-nez which can be given a /z/ plural. A special case would be Grand Prix . Several such races might be given a /z/ plural, but a careful editor would write Grands Prix for the plural, making this not a homograph.
| bourgeois | 'bʊəʒwɑ | 'bʊəʒwɑz |
| chamois | 'ʃæmwɑ | 'ʃæmwɑz |
| corps | kɔ | kɔz |
| patois | 'pætwɑ | 'pætwɑz |
| rendezvous | 'rɒndɪvu | 'rɒndɪvuz |
Return to contents
"True" homographs
That left the following set of 119 homographs (179 if all the inflectional variants are counted) arising from a variety of causes. This section of the list includes those words like moped and wound which are most typical of what we have in mind when we think of homographs. These include a number which were not in the original dictionary list.
I have included several which contrast an ordinary word with a place or personal name: the words nice , angers , lens and tours all contrasting with French cities, liege with a Belgian city, trier with a German city, hue with a Vietnamese city, reading with an English or American town, abridge with an English village, scone with a Scottish village and palace, wear with an English river, tangier with a Moroccan port, mobile with a city in Alabama, natal with a South African province, rainier with a prince of Monaco, munch with a Norwegian artist, pears with an English singer, dieter with a German first-name, ravel with a French composer, mime with a character in Wagner's Ring cycle, and job with an Old-Testament prophet. Like august/August, and polish/Polish they are distinguished by capitalisation and would only be homographs in sentence-initial position or in all-upper-case writing. The word romance as a verb meaning to pay court to would most likely have the schwa in the first syllable, while romance meaning a piece of fiction could have either schwa or a full diphthong, and Romance as a description of languages derived from Latin would almost certainly have the full diphthong. The surname Brazil is usually front-stressed (as in Angela Brazil the author) while the name of the country is end-stressed. The girl's name Nancy is another homograph in contrast with a French city. Sue as an abbreviation for Susan is never palatalised, while the verb sue often is in British English.
The word dove is a homograph for speakers of Amercian English but not for the British for whom the past tense of dive is dived . The verb sundry (dry in the sun) is not well attested, though the participle sundried is common on food labels, sometimes with a hyphen, sun-dried . The adjective pasty (pale) is always so spelled, but the noun (a meat pie) has an alternative spelling of pastie , common in Ireland. I am also unsure how well the verb predate is attested in the meaning "devour prey", though it is common in its other meaning of "come before". In six cases of recent loan words, expose , charge , pate , rose , resume and attaches , the homograph is disambiguated by retaining the French accents in the English spelling.
The contrast between the two-syllable and three-syllable pronunciations of evening may not be consistently made by all RP speakers, though all would recognise it, I believe.
There are several cases involving Latin or Greek terms or names: ate versus the Goddess Ate , dives versus Dives (rich man), agape , manes and pace . Two cases, axes and bases , contrast a Latin plural with an English plural.
Many of these words are particularly popular with crossword setters since they allow for the creation of misleading cryptic clues. (See below for examples.)
| abridge/Abridge | ə'brɪdʒ | 'eɪbrɪdʒ |
|
(shorten/village in Essex)
|
||
| agape | 'ægəpɪ | ə'geɪp |
|
(Christian love/open-mouthed)
|
||
| angers/Angers | 'æŋgəz | 'ɒŋʒeɪ |
|
(makes angry, city in France)
|
||
| arithmetic | ə'rɪƟmətɪk | ˌærɪƟ'metɪk |
|
(noun, adjective as in 'arithmetic mean')
|
||
| ate/Ate | eɪt or et | 'ɑteɪ |
|
(consumed, Goddess of mischief)
|
||
| attachés/attaches | ə'taeʃeɪz | ə'taetʃɪz |
|
(diplomats/fastens together; not a homograph if
one retains the accent)
|
||
| august/August | ɔ'gʌst | 'ɔgəst |
|
(solemn/eighth month)
|
||
| axes | 'æksɪz | 'æksiz |
|
(plural of axe/plural of axis)
|
||
| aye | aɪ | eɪ |
|
(Yes/ever)
|
||
| baas | bɑs | bɑz |
|
(South African boss/makes a sheep-like noise)
|
||
| bases | 'beɪsɪz | 'beɪsiz |
|
(plural of base/plural of basis)
|
||
| bass | bæs | beɪs |
|
(kind of fish/low voice)
|
||
| batman/Batman | 'bætmən | 'bætˌmæn |
|
(army officer's servant/comic book hero)
|
||
| bow | bəʊ | baʊ |
| bowed | bəʊd | baʊd |
| bowing | 'bəʊɪŋ | 'baʊɪŋ |
| bows | bəʊz | baʊz |
|
(play violin/bend from the waist)
|
||
| bower | 'bəʊə | 'baʊə |
| bowers | 'bəʊəz | 'baʊəz |
|
(violinist/tree-shaded place)
|
||
| bowman | 'bəʊmən | 'baʊmən |
| bowmen | 'bəʊmən | 'baʊmən |
|
(archer/rower at bow of boat)
|
||
| Brazil | 'bræzl | brə'zɪl |
|
(English surname/South American country)
|
||
| buffet | 'bʊfeɪ | 'bʌfɪt |
| buffets | 'bʊfeɪz | 'bʌfɪts |
|
(help-yourself table/blow)
|
||
| bustier | 'bʌstɪeɪ | 'bʌstɪə |
|
(a garment/with a larger bosom)
|
||
| cave | keɪv | keɪ'vi |
|
(rock dwelling/schoolboys' warning of an
approaching master)
|
||
| charge/chargé | ʧɑʤ | 'ʃɑʒeɪ |
| charges/chargés | 'ʧɑʤɪz | 'ʃɑʒeɪz |
|
(attack/short for chargé d'affaires, temporary
ambassador)
|
||
| cleanly | 'klenlɪ | 'klinlɪ |
|
(adjective/adverb)
|
||
| denier | 'denɪə | dɪ'naɪə |
|
(silk measure, one who denies)
|
||
| dieter/Dieter | 'daɪətə | 'ditə |
|
(one who eats little to lose weight, German first
name)
|
||
| dives/Dives | daɪvz | 'diveɪz |
|
(plunges into water, rich man in St Luke's gospel
story)
|
||
| do | dəʊ | du |
|
(musical note/auxiliary verb)
|
||
| does | dəʊz | dʌz |
|
(female deer/auxiliary verb)
|
||
| dove | dəʊv | dʌv |
|
(past of
dive
(US)/bird of peace)
|
||
| drawer | drɔ | drɔə |
| drawers | drɔz | drɔəz |
|
(sliding container in a desk/one who draws a
cheque, as in "refer to drawer")
|
||
| entrance | 'entrəns | ɪn'trɑns |
| entrances | 'entrənsɪz | ɪn'trɑnsɪz |
|
(way in/give delight)
|
||
| evening | 'ivnɪŋ | 'ivənɪŋ |
|
(period after sunset/making smooth or equal, as in
"evening the score")
|
||
| expose/exposé | ɪks'pəʊz | eks'pəʊzeɪ |
| exposes/exposés | ɪks'pəʊzɪz | eks'pəʊzeɪz |
|
(remove a cover/scandalous revelation; not
homographs if one retains the accent)
|
||
| finish | 'fɪnɪʃ | 'faɪnɪʃ |
|
(complete/somewhat fine)
|
||
| flower | 'flaʊə | 'fləʊə |
| flowers | 'flaʊəz | 'fləʊəz |
|
(plant/something that flows)
|
||
| forbear | 'fɔbeə | fɔ'beə |
| forbears | 'fɔbeəz | fɔ'beəz |
|
(ancestor/not do)
|
||
| forearm | 'fɔrɑm | ˌfɔ'rɑm |
| forearms | 'fɔrɑmz | ˌfɔ'rɑmz |
|
(part of the arm/prepare for danger)
|
||
| furrier | 'fɜrɪə | 'fʌrɪə |
|
(more furry/fur dealer)
|
||
| gallant | 'gælənt | gə'lænt |
|
(adjective/person)
|
||
| gill | ʤɪl | gɪl |
| gills | ʤɪlz | gɪlz |
|
(liquid measure/part of fish)
|
||
| glower | 'glaʊə | 'gləʊə |
| glowers | 'glaʊəz | 'gləʊəz |
|
(frown/something that glows)
|
||
| grave | grɑv | greɪv |
| graves | grɑvz | greɪvz |
|
(French accent/burial place)
|
||
| housewife | 'haʊswaɪf | 'hʌzɪf |
| housewives | 'haʊswaɪvz | 'hʌzɪfs |
|
(married woman who looks after the
household/sewing kit issued to soldiers)
|
||
| hue/Hue | hju | hwe |
|
(colour/city in Vietnam)
|
||
| imagines | ɪ'mæʤɪnz | ɪ'meɪgɪniz |
|
(forms a mental picture/plural of 'imago', adult
stage of an insect)
|
||
| inter | 'ɪntə | ɪn't3 |
|
(between/bury a body)
|
||
| invalid | 'ɪnvəlɪd | ɪn'vælɪd |
|
(sick person/out of date)
|
||
| job/Job | ʤɒb | ʤəʊb |
|
(work/character in the Old Testament)
|
||
| layer | 'leə | 'leɪə |
| layers | 'leəz | 'leɪəz |
|
(stratum/egg-producer)
|
||
| lead | led | lid |
| leading | 'ledɪŋ | 'lidɪŋ |
| leads | ledz | lidz |
|
(metal/go first)
|
||
| lens/Lens | lenz | lɒŋs |
|
(shaped glass for focussing light/French city)
|
||
| lied | laɪd | lit |
|
(told lies/German song)
|
||
| liege/Liège | liʤ | li'eʒ |
|
(loyal subject of a king/city in Belgium)
|
||
| live | lɪv | laɪv |
| (verb/adjective) | ||
| lives | lɪvz | laɪvz |
|
(verb/noun)
|
||
| lower | 'ləʊə | 'laʊə |
| lowered | 'ləʊəd | 'laʊəd |
| lowering | 'ləʊərɪŋ | 'laʊərɪŋ |
| lowers | 'ləʊəz | 'laʊəz |
|
(make more low/frown)
|
||
| manes | 'mɑneɪz | meɪnz |
|
(departed spirits/fur round animal's neck)
|
||
| mime/Mime | maɪm | 'mimə |
|
(wordless acting/character in Wagner's Ring)
|
||
| minute | 'mɪnɪt | maɪ'njut |
|
(unit of time/very small)
|
||
| mobile/Mobile | 'məʊbaɪl | məʊ'bil |
|
(easy to move/city in Alabama)
|
||
| moped | 'məʊped | məʊpt |
|
(motor-cycle/was gloomy)
|
||
| mow | məʊ | maʊ |
| mowed | məʊd | maʊd |
| mowing | 'məʊɪŋ | 'maʊɪŋ |
| mows | məʊz | maʊz |
|
(cut grass/grimace)
|
||
| multiply | 'mʌltɪplaɪ | 'mʌltɪplɪ |
|
(verb/adverb)
|
||
| munch/Munch | mʌnʧ | mʊnʃ |
|
(chew/Norwegian artist)
|
||
| Nancy | 'nænsɪ | 'nɒŋsɪ |
|
(English girl's name/French city)
|
||
| natal/Natal | 'neɪtl | nə'tɑl |
|
(concerning birth/province of South Africa)
|
||
| nice/Nice | naɪs | nis |
|
(pleasant/city in France)
|
||
| number | 'nʌmbə | 'nʌmə |
| numbers | 'nʌmbəz | 'nʌməz |
|
(numerical value/thing which makes (more) numb)
|
||
| pace | peɪs | 'pɑʧɪ |
|
(step or speed/with respect (I disagree) from
Latin 'in peace')
|
||
| palled | pæld | pɔld |
| palling | 'pælɪŋ | 'pɔlɪŋ |
|
(made friends/became boring)
|
||
| pasty | 'pæstɪ | 'peɪstɪ |
|
(pie/pale)
|
||
| pâté/pate | 'pæteɪ | peɪt |
|
(meat spread/bald head; not a homograph if one
retains the accents)
|
||
| Pears/pears | pɪəz | 'peəz |
|
(English singer/fruit)
|
||
| peer | pɪə | 'piə |
| peers | pɪəz | 'piəz |
|
(look closely/one who pees)
|
||
| pension | 'pɒnsɪɒn | 'penʃn |
| pensions | 'pɒnsɪɒnz | 'penʃnz |
|
(boarding-house/salary in retirement)
|
||
| periodic | pɪərɪ'ɒdɪk | 'pə'raɪədɪk |
|
(occurring at intervals/in 'periodic acid'
containing more oxygen than iodic acid)
|
||
| polish/Polish | 'pɒlɪʃ | 'pəʊlɪʃ |
|
(make shiny/from Poland)
|
||
| poll | pɒl | pəʊl |
| polls | pɒlz | pəʊlz |
|
(parrots/opinion surveys)
|
||
| prayer | 'preə | 'preɪə |
| prayers | 'preəz | 'preɪəz |
|
(what is said to God/person who prays)
|
||
| predate | pri'deɪt | 'preˌdɪt |
| predates | pri'deɪts | 'preˌdɪts |
| predated | pri'deɪtɪd | 'preˌdɪtɪd |
|
(come before/consume prey)
|
||
| preposition | 'prepəzɪʃn | 'pripəzɪʃn |
| prepositions | 'prepəzɪʃnz | 'pripəzɪʃnz |
|
(part of speech/put in place in advance)
|
||
| pussy | 'pʊsɪ | 'pʌsɪ |
|
(beloved cat/oozing pus)
|
||
| put | pʊt | pʌt |
| puts | pʊts | pʌts |
| putting | 'pʊtɪŋ | 'pʌtɪŋ |
|
(place/hit a golf ball on the green, often spelled
PUTT)
|
||
| rainier/Rainier | 'reɪniə | 'reɪnieɪ |
|
(wetter weather/Prince of Monaco)
|
||
| ravel/Ravel | 'rævəl | ræˈvel |
|
(entangle/French composer)
|
||
| raven | 'rævən | 'reɪvən |
| ravens | 'rævənz | 'reɪvənz |
|
(consume greedily/bird)
|
||
| read | rid | red |
| lip-read | 'lɪp-rid | 'lɪp-red |
| misread | ˌmɪs'rid | ˌmɪs'red |
| proofread | 'prufrid | 'prufred |
| reread | ri'rid | ri'red |
|
(present tense/past tense)
|
||
| reading/Reading | 'ridɪŋ | 'redɪŋ |
|
(looking at words/town in Berkshire or
Pennsylvania)
|
||
| real/Real | rɪəl | 'reɑl |
|
(not imaginary/old Spanish silver coin
or
Madrid football team)
|
||
| resume/résumé | rɪ'zjum | 'rezjʊ,meɪ |
|
(start again/CV; not a homograph if one retains
the accent)
|
||
| romance/Romance | rə'mæns | rəʊ'mæns |
|
(pay court to
or
piece of fiction/language derived from Latin)
|
||
| rose/rosé | rəʊz | 'rəʊzeɪ |
|
(kind of flower/pink wine; not a homograph if one
retains the accent)
|
||
| routed | 'raʊtɪd | 'rutɪd |
| routing | 'raʊtɪŋ | 'rutɪŋ |
|
(comprehensively beating in battle/sending on a
particular way,
sometimes spelled ROUTEING)
|
||
| row | rəʊ | raʊ |
| rowed | rəʊd | raʊd |
| rowing | 'rəʊɪŋ | 'raʊɪŋ |
| rows | rəʊz | raʊz |
|
(propel a boat/argue)
|
||
| sake | seɪk | 'sɑkɪ |
|
(behalf/Japanese drink)
|
||
| scone/Scone | skɒn | skun |
|
(small cake/village and palace near Perth in
Scotland)
|
||
| sewer | 'səʊə | 'sjuə |
| sewers | 'səʊəz | 'sjuəz |
|
(person who sews/drain)
|
||
| shower | 'ʃaʊə | 'ʃəʊə |
| showers | 'ʃaʊəz | 'ʃəʊəz |
|
(short rainfall/one who shows)
|
||
| sin | 'sɪn | 'saɪn |
|
(wickedness/trigonometric funtion)
|
||
| skier | 'skiə | 'skaɪə |
| skiers | 'skiəz | 'skaɪəz |
|
(one who skis/ball hit high into the air)
|
||
| slaver | 'slævə | 'sleɪvə |
| slavers | 'slævəz | 'sleɪvəz |
|
(foam at the mouth/ship carrying slaves)
|
||
| slough | slʌf | slaʊ (also in USA) slu |
| sloughs | slʌfs | slaʊz |
|
(discard skin/marsh)
|
||
| sow | səʊ | saʊ |
| sows | səʊz | saʊz |
|
(spread seed/female pig)
|
||
| sue/Sue | sju | su |
|
(take to court/short for Susan)
|
||
| sundry | 'sʌndrɪ | 'sʌnˌdraɪ |
| sundries | 'sʌndrɪz | 'sʌnˌdraɪz |
|
(various/dry in the sun)
|
||
| supply | 'sʌplɪ | sə'plaɪ |
|
(in a supple way/provide)
|
||
| swinging | 'swɪŋɪŋ | 'swɪnʤɪŋ |
|
(from swing/from swinge, often spelled SWINGEING)
|
||
| tangier/Tangier | 'tæŋɪə | tæn'ʤɪə |
|
(more strong-tasting/port in Morocco)
|
||
| tarry | 'tærɪ | 'tɑrɪ |
|
(wait/covered with tar)
|
||
| tear | tɪə | teə |
| tears | tɪəz | teəz |
|
(liquid from the eyes/rip in cloth)
|
||
| tier | 'taɪə | tɪə |
| tiers | 'taɪəz | tɪəz |
|
(one who ties/row of seats)
|
||
| tinged | tɪŋd | tɪnʤd |
| tinging | 'tɪŋɪŋ | 'tɪnʤɪŋ |
|
(made a bell sound/added colour, more often
spelled TINGEING)
|
||
| tours/Tours | tʊəz | tʊə |
|
(travels around/city in France)
|
||
| tower | 'taʊə | 'təʊə |
| towers | 'taʊəz | 'təʊəz |
|
(tall building/one who tows)
|
||
| trier/Trier | traɪə | triə |
|
(one who tries/German city)
|
||
| unionised/unionized | 'junɪənaɪzd | ʌn'aɪənaɪzd |
|
(with an organised work force/not ionised as in
"unionised ammonia")
|
||
| valence | 'væləns | 'veɪləns |
| valences | 'vælənsɪz | 'veɪlənsɪz |
|
(hanging border--also spelled 'valance'/chemical
bond--also spelled 'valency')
|
||
| wear/Wear | weə | wɪə |
|
(put on clothes/river in the north of England)
|
||
| wind | wɪnd | waɪnd |
| winding | 'wɪndɪŋ | 'waɪndɪŋ |
| winds | wɪndz | waɪndz |
|
(moving air/twist a knob)
|
||
| worsted | 'wɜstɪd | 'wʊstɪd |
|
(defeated/cloth)
|
||
| wound | waʊnd | wund |
| (past of WIND/hurt in battle) | ||
Return to contents
Quite : a tonemic homograph
One other word worth drawing attention to is quite . This has two distinct meanings, completely as in "You're quite right" and to some extent as in "He's quite clever". Although both senses are pronounced the same at the segmental level, i.e. the same sequence of vowels and consonants, they are consistently differentiated by intonation, the first sense occurring in phrases with a falling tone and the second in phrases with a fall-rise. This makes it apparently the only example of a toneme distinction in English, i.e. a case where a distinction in the meaning of a word is indicated by a tone difference. I would argue that this meets the definition of a homograph, namely two meanings, two pronunciations, but only one spelling.
Abbreviations
There is one homograph I know of (there may be more) which arises from abbreviating two different words. Reg is pronounced /reʤ/ when it is short for Reginald or registration , as in "a T-reg car". It is pronounced /reg/ when it is short for regulation as in "Queen's Regs" (the British Army's rule book). Luckily the second form is almost always plural and the first almost always singular, so there is little chance of confusion. There are at least five cases where a homograph arises between a full word and an abbreviation. One is the homograph of path , which is pronounced /pɑƟ/ by RP speakers in its ordinary meaning as a place to walk, and /pæƟ/ when it is an abbreviation for pathology , as in "we are waiting for the path reports"; another is the abbreviation Staffs /stæfs/ for Staffordshire against the word staffs /stɑfs/ , which would be homographs in upper-case writing; a third is the word coop meaning enclosure as opposed to Coop , sometimes written Co-op or Coöp , the abbreviation for the Coöperative Stores; a fourth is the word coax pronounced /kəʊks/ meaning 'persuade' versus the abbreviation for coaxial cable coax pronounced /kəʊ'æks/ , and a fifth is the word thou , pronounced /ðaʊ/ when it is the old fashioned word for 'you' and /Ɵaʊ/ when it is an abbreviation for 'thousand'. A possible sixth example is brat , pronounced /bræt/ to mean an ill-behaved child, and /brɑt/ as an abbreviation for Bratwurst in the USA. (I am grateful to Peter Reitan for sending me recordings of TV commercials which attest this pronunciation.)Place names
Another special case is place names. In England there are three towns called Gillingham . The one in Kent is pronounced /'ʤɪlɪŋəm/ while the ones in Dorset and Norfolk are pronounced /'gɪlɪŋəm/ . Unfortunately only people who live locally to one of these towns (as I do) would be likely to know this and maintain the distinction consistently. There are four communities called Plaistow , pronounced /'pleɪstəʊ/ in Derby, /'plɑstəʊ/ in Kent or Essex, and /'plæstəʊ/ in Sussex. Alford is pronounced /'ɑfəd if you are referring to the Scottish one or /'ɔlfəd if you mean the English one. Lagos in Nigeria is pronounced / 'leɪgɒs / while Lagos in Portugal is usually / 'lɑgɒs /. A similar case is Berkeley in California, pronounced /'bɜklɪ/ (by RP speakers) or /'brklɪ/ , contrasted with Berkeley in the west of England, pronounced /'bɑklɪ/ . There is also the case of the Kentucky Derby , pronounced /'dɜrbɪ/ , and the British horse race, the Derby at Epsom, pronounced /'dɑbɪ/ . I suspect that one could find more cases of pairs of places in different countries with the same spelling and different pronunciations.
Return to contents
Example of cryptic crossword clues which draw on homographs, all taken from The Times :
Number of elks, perhaps, surrounding a wild animal's lair.
(8)
Answer: DEADENER (something which numbs, DEER—elks perhaps— round A
DEN—wild animal's lair).
(26 April 2006).
Stagger, describing Birmingham area.
(8)
Answer: ASTONISH (Aston-ish, Aston being a part of Birmingham.)
(8 June 2006).
One very reliable tugboat
(5, 2, 8)
Answer: TOWER OF STRENGTH
(19 June 2006).
Difference in sequence
(3)
Answer: ROW
(21 June 2006).
Energy to get closer
(3)
Answer: ZIP (something which closes, as well as energy)
(2 July 2005).
Nice fellow councillor blocking attempt to obtain novel
(10, 5)
Answer: FRENCHMAN'S CREEK (title of a novel by Daphne du Maurier, a
Nice fellow is a FRENCHMAN, CR abbreviation for Councillor in the word
SEEK,attempt).
(27 July 2006).
Polish brigade involve one in runners on board.
(10)
Answer: CHAIRWOMEN (Women who run boards, CHARWOMEN are the brigade of
polishers, surrounding 1).
(25 January 2007).
Less sensitive issue of magazine.
(10)
Answer: NUMBER
(22 October 2008).
Object to having ice-cream not guacamole for starters.
(5)
Answer: THING (Object, first letters of the next five words.)
(31 July 2009)
Champ who put one screaming on the canvas?
(5)
Answer: MUNCH (Chew, Norwegian artist who painted
The Scream
.)
(13 March 2010)
Shot or shut
(5-2)
Answer: CLOSE-UP
(22 January 2011)
References and acknowledgements:
Higgins, J (1984). "It or ate; a note on the pronunciation of words ending in -ate.", ELT Journal 38, 1, p. 50-51.
My thanks to Clay Stabler for suggesting affect, arithmetic, batman, bowman, construct, coop, curate, hue, legitimate, mime, pace, preposition, and rainier , to Eduardo Parra for agape , Peter Reitan for bustier and brat , to Andrew Leventis for supposed , and to Daniel Asimov and Charles Jeffery for the extremely specialised homographs of periodic and unionised .
Key to phonetic transcription:
| Vowels | Keyword | Transcribed | Consonants | Keyword | Transcribed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | key | ki | p | pea | pi | |
| ɪ | pit | pɪt | b | bee | bi | |
| e | pet | pet | t | toe | təʊ | |
| æ | pat | pæt | d | doe | dəʊ | |
| ɑ | hard | hɑd | k | cap | kæp | |
| ɒ | pot | pɒt | g | get | get | |
| ɔ | raw | rɔ | f | fat | fæt | |
| ʊ | put | pʊt | v | vet | vet | |
| u | coo | ku | Ɵ | thin | Ɵɪn | |
| ʌ | hut | hʌt | ð | then | ðen | |
| 3 | cur | k3 | s | sack | sæk | |
| ə | about/mother | əbaʊt/mʌðə | z | zoo | zu | |
| eɪ | bay | beɪ | ʃ | ship | ʃɪp | |
| aɪ | buy | baɪ | ʒ | measure | meʒə | |
| ɔɪ | boy | bɔɪ | h | hide | haɪd | |
| əʊ | go | gəʊ | m | man | mæn | |
| aʊ | cow | kaʊ | n | no | nəʊ | |
| ɪə | peer | pɪə | ŋ | sing | sɪŋ | |
| eə | pair | peə | l | lie | laɪ | |
| ʊə | poor | pʊə | r | red | red | |
|
|
j | year | jɪə | |||
|
|
w | wet | wet | |||
|
|
ʧ | chin | ʧɪn | |||
|
|
ʤ | judge | ʤʌʤ | |||
Alphabetical list of 648 English homographs
abridge/Abridge absent abstract abstracts abuse abuses accent accents addict addicts advert adverts advocate advocates affect affects affix affixes afternoon agape agglomerate aggregate aggregates allies alloy alloys ally alternate am analyses angers/Angers animate annex annexes appropriate approximate arithmetic articulate aspirate aspirates associate associates ate/Ate attaches attribute attributes august/August axes aye baas bamboo bases bass batman/Batman baths beloved blessed bourgeois bow bowed bower bowers bowing bowman bowmen bows brat brats buffet buffets cave certificate certificates chamois charge/chargé charges/chargés cleanly close closer closes coax collect collects combat combats combine combines commune communes compact compacts compliment compliments compound compounds compress compresses concert concerts conduct confederate confederates confines conflict conflicts conglomerate conglomerates conscript conscripts console consoles consort consorts construct constructs consummate content contents contest contests contract contracts contrast contrasts converse convert converts convict convicts coop coordinate coordinates corps counterbalance counterbalances crabbed crooked curate curates cursed decoy decoys decrease decreases defect defects defile defiles degenerate degenerates delegate delegates deliberate denier descant descants desert deserts desolate diagnoses dictate dictates dieter/Dieter diffuse digest digests discard discards discharge discharges discount discounts discourse discourses dives/Dives document documents does dogged dove (US) downhill downstairs drawer drawers duplicate duplicates ejaculate ejaculates elaborate entrance entrances envelope envelopes escort escorts essay essays estimate estimates evening excess excise excuse excuses expatriate expatriates exploit exploits export exports expose exposes extract extracts ferment ferments filtrate filtrates finish flower flowers forbear forbears forearm forearms fragment fragments frequent furrier gallant gill gills glower glowers graduate graduates grave graves house housewife hue/Hue impact impacts implant implants implement implements import imports impress impresses imprint imprints inincarnate incense incline inclines incorporate increase increases indent indents inebriate inebriates initiate initiates inland inlay inlays insert inserts inset insets inside instinct insult insults inter interchange interchanges interdict interdicts intern interns intimate intimates introvert introverts invalid inverse invite invites jagged job/Job layer layers lead leading leads learned legitimate lens/Lens lied liege/Liege lip-read live lives lower lowered lowering lowers mandate manes mime/Mime minute misconduct misprint misprints misread misuse misuses mobile/Mobile moderate moderates moped mouth mouths mow mowed mowing mows multiply munch/Munch Nancy natal/Natal nice/Nice no number object objects ornament ornaments outside overall overbid overbids overcharge overcharges overflow overflows overhang overhangs overhaul overhauls overhead overlap overlaps overlay overlays overnight overprint overprints overseas overstrain overthrow overthrows overweight overwork pace palled palling pasty pate path patois pears/Pears peer peers pension pensions perfect perfume perfumes permit permits pervert perverts polish/Polish poll polls pontificate pontificates prayer prayers precipitate predate predates predated predicate predicates prefix prefixes preposition prepositions presage presages present presents princess proceeds process processed processes processing produce progress progresses project projects prolapse prolapses prospect prospects prostrate protest protests purport pussy put puts putting quadruple quadruples quadruplicate quadruplicates quite ragged rainier/Rainier rampage rampages ravel/Ravel raven ravens read reading/Reading real rebel rebels rebound rebounds recall recalls recap recapped recapping recaps record records re-count re-counts recover recovered recovering recovers recreation refill refills refit refits reform reforms refresh refund refunds refuse reg regenerate rehash rehashes reincarnate reject rejects rejoin rejoined rejoining rejoins relay relaying relays relays remake remakes remark remarked remarking remarks remount remounts rendezvous replay replays represent represented representing represents reprint reprints reproof reproofs reread rerun reruns resent reserve reserved reserves reserving resign resigned resigning resigns resolve resolves resolved resolving resort resorted resorting resorts resume retake retakes rethink rethinks reticulate retread retreads rewrite rewrites romance/Romance routed routine routing row rowed rowing rows rugged sake sardine scone/Scone second seconded seconding seconds segment segments separate separates sewer sewers shower showers sin skier skiers slaver slavers slough sloughs sow sows staffs/Staffs subcontract subcontracts subject subjects subordinate subordinates sue/Sue sundry sundries supplement supplements supply supposed surmise surmises survey surveys suspect suspects swinging syndicate syndicates tarry tear tears thou tier tiers tinged tinging torment torments tours/Tours tower towers transfer transfers transplant transplants transport transports trier/Trier triplicate triplicates undercharge undercharges undercut underestimate underestimates underground underlay underline underlines undertaking undertakings unused upgrade upgrades uplift upset upsets upstairs use used uses valence valences wear/Wear wicked wind winding winds winged worsted wound
A list by John Higgins, and last updated 2 January, 2021.
