bbc你问我答--Homophone/ homonym

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Homophone/ homonym

A question from Sokhom in Cambodia:

What  is the difference between homophone and homonym?

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello Sokhom.

Thank  you for your questi on concerning two terms connected to pronunciat i on and spelling, namely homophones and homonyms.

I’ll start wi th  homophones. These are words whi ch have the same pronunciat i on but which are different in  both spelling and meaning. Listen to the foll owing two examples and  i dent ify the homophones.

I was amazed thatI knew the answer to every question in the test.

I bought a new car yesterday. Would you like to see it?

So, the homophones are ‘knew’, spel t K-N-E-W and meaning that I had the knowl edge of something, and  ‘new’, spel t N-E-W and meaning the opposi te of  ol d. Here are a few other homophones: meet, spel t M-E-E-T or M-E-A-T; road, spel t R-O-A-D and R-O-D-E; bean, spelt B-E-A-N and B-E-E-N.

Homonyms also have the same sound, but they also have the same spelling. Only the meaning is different. Identify the homonyms  in these examples.

WhenI  was camping in the forestI saw a brown bear,  which actually rather scared me.

I can’t bear that noise anymore. I’m going to call the police!

The homonyms are bear, spel t B-E-A-R, wi th the first meaning an animal  that  l ooks cute but isreallyrather dangerous, and the second meaning to tol erate something. Other examples of homonyms  include  fair, pati ent and coach.

Just to finish, I’d  like to say that homophones and homonyms of ten  form the basis of simple jokes, because they all ow a pl ay on words.That is, one sound may  have two meanings, and this may create a j oke. In case, I’m  not making myself clear, here are a few examples. I hope you  find them  funny.

Waiter,  waiter,  what’s this?

It’s bean soup.

I don’t care  what it  was, I  want to know  what it is now!

John is so stupid. He thinks a tennis coach has four  wheels.

Well, how many  wheels does it have?

Doctor! Help me quickly!I thinkI’m shrinking. I’m getting smaller! Help me.

Well, first you  will have to calm down and learn to be a little patient.