Название: Лексикология английского языка - Антрушина Г. В. Жанр: Иностранные языки Рейтинг: Просмотров: 7991 |
CHAPTER 9 Homonyms: Words of the Same Form
Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least, in one of these aspects, but different in their meaning.
E. g. bank, n. — a shore bank, n.— an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding money ball, n. — a sphere; any spherical body ball, n. — a large dancing party
English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. Their identical forms are mostly accidental: the majority of homonyms coincided due to phonetic changes which they suffered during their development. If synonyms and antonymscan be regarded as the treasury of the language's expressive resources, homonyms are of no interest in this respect, and one cannot expect them to be of particular value for communication. Metaphorically speaking, groups of synonyms and pairs of antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose whereas homonyms are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless. In the process of communication they are more of an encumbrance, leading sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding. Yet it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the most important sources of popular humour. The pun is a joke based upon the play upon words of similar form but different meaning (i. e. on homonyms) as in the following:
"A tailor guarantees to give each of his customers a perfect fit."
(The joke is based on the homonyms: I. fit, n. — perfectly fitting clothes; II. fit, n. — a nervous spasm.) Homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling (as the examples given in the beginning of this chapter) are traditionally termed homonyms proper. The following joke is based on a pun which makes use of another type of homonyms:
"Waiter!" "Yes, sir." , "What's this?" "It's bean soup, sir." "Never mind what it has been. I want to know what it is now."
Bean, n. and been. Past Part. of to be are homophones. As the example shows they are the same in sound but different in spelling. Here are some more examples of homophones: |
| Оглавление| |
- Акмеология
- Анатомия
- Аудит
- Банковское дело
- БЖД
- Бизнес
- Биология
- Бухгалтерский учет
- География
- Грамматика
- Делопроизводство
- Демография
- Естествознание
- Журналистика
- Иностранные языки
- Информатика
- История
- Коммуникация
- Конфликтология
- Криминалогия
- Культурология
- Лингвистика
- Литература
- Логика
- Маркетинг
- Медицина
- Менеджмент
- Метрология
- Педагогика
- Политология
- Право
- Промышленность
- Психология
- Реклама
- Религиоведение
- Социология
- Статистика
- Страхование
- Счетоводство
- Туризм
- Физика
- Филология
- Философия
- Финансы
- Химия
- Экология
- Экономика
- Эстетика
- Этика
Лучшие книги
Гражданский процесс: Вопросы и ответы
ЗАПАДНОЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ ИСКУССТВО от ДЖОТТО до РЕМБРАНДТА
Коммуникации стратегического маркетинга
Консультации по английской грамматике: В помощь учителю иностранного языка.
Международные экономические отношения