Tag: Linguistics

Similar Words

There’s different terms for words that are similar here are a few.

Homonym

A homonym is a word that sounds like, or is spelled differently but have different meanings. Coming from Ancient Greek Homo meaning Same and Onym meaning Name.

Examples

  • There/Their/They’re
  • Bow(Weapon)/Bow(To Bow at someone)/Bow(Accessory)

Heteronym

A heteronym is a word that has a different pronunciation and meaning from another word but the same spelling. Coming from Ancient Greek Hetero meaning Different and Onym meaning Name.

Examples

  • Don’t desert(to leave) me here in the desert(A Place)!
  • Upon seeing the tear(To rip) in the painting I shed a tear(To Cry).

Homograph

A homograph is a word that looks the same but has a different meaning. Coming from Ancient Greek Homo meaning Same and Graph meaning Write.

Examples

  • Sow(To plant a seed) and Sow(A female pig)
  • Lead(The Material) and Lead(To have something follow it)

Homophone

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same/similarly but has a different meaning. Coming from Ancient Greek Homo meaning Same and Phone meaning Voice. If there is more than one word it can be called an Oronym.

Examples

  • Merry(To be happy) and Mary(The Name)
  • Ice Cream(The Food) and I Scream(The Verb)

Synonym

A synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word in the same language. Coming from Syn meaning With and Onym meaning Name.

Examples

  • Drink and Beverage
  • Buy and Purchase
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homograph_homophone_venn_diagram.svg

Acronyms

An acronym is an abbreviation made up of the beginning letters of the words. It is usually also one which is pronounceable.


A;;

Alternatively, an initialism is a term made up of the beginning letters of the words. It is usually also one which is pronounced by its letters.

A similar word is a backronym. A backronym is a blend of the word “back” and “acornym”.

Examples

Acronym

  • Laser:Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
  • Gestapo:Geheime Staatspolizei
  • CD-ROM:Compact Disc Read-Only Memory

Initialism

  • BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation
  • USA: United States of America
  • PIN: Personal Identification Number

Backronym

  • SAD-Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • COVFEFE Act- Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically For Engagement Act
  • SOS-Save Our Ship/Soul

Autological Words

An Autological Word is a word which describes itself.

An autological is also known as a homological word from homo meaning same. The antonym to autological is heterological from hetero meaning different.

Examples of autological words are:

  • Short
  • English
  • Polysyllabic

Examples of heterological words are:

  • Long
  • Monosyllabic

Featured

About Us

Thanks for joining me!

“Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know” — Edward Sapir

Hi Welcome To My Blog,

This blog will be used to explore different linguistic techniques and the use of them. The blog may also be a place in which I will discuss different mythology and how they interlink. 

 

https://lin.ufl.edu/files/word-cloud.jpg

Note: Whilst I have a love of language and mythology I am not the best at spelling and grammar. As such if I do make mistakes please correct me.

Thanks for Reading

Jack Jones