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Quodlibet

quod·li·bet \Quod"li*bet\ (kw[o^]d"l[i^]*b[e^]t), n. [L., what you please.] 1. A nice point; a subtilty; a debatable point. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Also quodlibertarian and quodlibetic - purely academic!

English Spelling? Does English really work this way?

* Pronounce "ghoti".
* Pronounce "Phtholognyrrh".
* Spell "coffee" completely wrong.
Go to the bottom of the page for answers!
Showing posts with label Heteronyms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heteronyms. Show all posts

Monday, March 19, 2007

Heteronyms

Heteronyms: Words, unlike Homonyms, that are spelled the same but pronounced differently, with different meanings. At current count I have 42 including one three-way!

For example:
  • lupine, pronounced lu-píne or lu-pin, oflikeor relating to a wolf or wolves or a plant of the pea family, with deeply divided leaves and tallcolorfultapering spikes of flowers.
  • does, pronounced dós or duz, the plural of a female deer, and the third person singular present tense conjugation of the verb "do".
  • tower. pronounced tow-er or toe-er - pylon, tall structure or one who tows or pulls something.
  • appropriate, pronounced a-pro-pré-et or a-pro-pré-ate - suitable, fitting vs to take without permission, expropriate.
  • lead, pronounced léd or led - Proceed before vs the poisonous heavy metal.
  • read, pronounced réd or red - Both present tense and past
    in one spelling.
  • unionize, pronounced únyun·ized or un·Íonize - Join a union vs take away ions.
  • minute, pronounced min-út or mÍn-úte - 60 seconds vs very small.
  • lived, pronounced liv-d or liv-ed - Life in the past vs red in the face.
  • bow(ed), pronounced bow(ed) or bów(ed) - Done at the waste/prow of boat vs tie(d) in a ribbon.
  • shower, pronounced show·er or shów·er - Like bathing vs one who demonstrates something.
  • sewer, pronouncer soo·wer or só·wer - Where the waste water is vs one who uses needles and pins.
  • tear, pronounced tér or tare - From the eye vs from a rip.
  • router, pronounced router or rooter - machine to mill wood or a horse trained for distance races.
  • bass, pronounced base or bass - as in astring bass(viol) vs a fine tasting fish.
  • Polish, pronounced Pólish or polish - as in one from Poland or what one does after applying wax to one's car.
  • intimate, pronounced in-ti-mit or int-i-mate - meaning close and personal or to suggest imply.
  • row, pronounced rou or rów - a noisy dispute or quarrel vs to propel a boat with oars.
  • coop, pronounced coop or có-op - a place for chickens or alternate spelling for co-op (co-operatrive)
  • present, pronounced pre-zent or pré-zent or pré-sent
    -a gift vs to give something or vs be sent in advance - a three-way Heteronym!
  • close, pronounced clóz or clós - to shut up vs to be near.
  • rebel, pronounced re-bel' or re'bel -to renounce allegiance or subjection vs one who breaks with or opposes constituted authority or the established order.
  • contract, pronounced con-tract or ceun-tract - to have a formal writen relationship vs to tighten, shrink in size.
  • learned, pronounced lurn'd or lurn-ed - having acquired the knowledge vs being one full of knowledge.
  • buffet, pronounce buf-á or buf-et - meal at which people serve themselve vs be hit especially repeatedly.
  • desert, pronounced des-ert or de-sert - dry barren region vs abandon.
  • dove, pronounced duv or dóve - a small wild pigeon vs plunged into water headfirst.
  • entrance, pronounced en-trence or en-trànce - means or place of enter vs fascinate or delight.
  • moped, pronounced móp'd or mó-ped - be sad or listless vs low-powered motorbike[Alternate spelling].
  • wind, pronounced wind or wínd - movement of the air vs have or follow a curving course.
  • wound, pronounced woo-nd or wow-nd - injury in which the skin is broken vs followed a curving course.
  • record, pronounced rec-ord or ré-cord -noun, a note or top score vs to capture sound on a storage device.
  • produce, pronounced pró-duce or pro-dooce, what comes off the farm vs to make, create something.
  • pension, pronounced pen(t)-sh&n or päns-yOn - a fixed sum paid regularly to a person vs accommodations especially at a continental European hotel or boardinghouse.
  • refuse, pronounced re-"fyüs or ri-'fyüz - the worthless or useless part of something : trash, garbage vs to show or express unwillingness to do or comply with.
  • august, pronounced Or-gist or awe-gust - the month of vs exalted.
  • resign, pronounced re-zine or re-sine - give up deliberately vs sign on again See Janus Words.
  • resolve, pronounced re-Zolved or re-solved - determine to do vs solve again.
  • predial, pronounced pre-dial or pré-di-al - to dial on advance vs of or relating to land or its products.
  • project, pronounced pra-ject or pro-ject - noun, a specific plan or design vs verb, to cause to protrude.
  • leading, pronounced léd -ing or led-ing - ahead or font spacing.
  • slaver, pronounced sláver or slaver - a ship that transports Slaves or Saliva dripping from the mouth.
  • axes, pronounced ax-es or ax-és - more tan one axe, hatchet or more than one axis.
  • luger, pronounced with a hard g - a type of gun or with a soft g - one who sleds on a luge.

I keep adding to this list! If you know of any I missed please post a comment.

Answers:
  • ghoti is pronounced: fish, 'gh' as in tough, 'o' as in women and 'ti' as in motion! Attributed to George Bernard Shaw by some. Visit GHOTI for a rant against this "joke" about english pronuciation.
  • Phtholognyrrh pronounced: Turner, According to a Mr. Turner who insisted on signing his name that way according to Robert M. Rennick in I Didn't Catch Your Name, Verbatim® Vol. XXix, No2. Mr Turner explains: " Look, the phth is like phthisic, which is pronounced t; olo is like colonel, which is pronounced ur; gn as in gnat is pronounced n; and yrrh as in myrrh, is pronounced er. So you have Turner. Nothing could be simpler." Reader's Digest, Jan . 1941, p. 42
  • coffee spelled completely incorrectly is kauphy! or kaughy!