Name : Muhammad Haekal Zaki

NIM : 210203054
Unit :2
Course : Vocabulary and pronunciation

HOMOGRAPH

➢ Definition
Homograph is written identically, but sounds differently (Pateda, 2001).
Also, Chaer (2012) defined that “Homograph is words same the spelling, but different
its pronunciation and meaning.” As stated by Sudaryat (2004) in his article with the
title struktur makna, homograph is homonymy that same written form, but different its
meaning and pronunciation. In brief, homographs are two words that have same writing,
but they have different meaning and pronunciation.
Puschmann (2009) revealed that “Homograph is when two terms are
spelled similarly but the sound patterns differ”. In addition, Delahunty and Garvey
(2010) added that “Homograph is a single spelling has two or more quite unrelated
meanings”. Likewise, Algeo (2010) proposed that “Words that are written alike are
called homographs”. Then, Rinawati (2014) termed that “Homograph is the form of
the similarity is located on orthography identically.”
According to Smith (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistic, 2002), homographs are words that are spelled an equivalent way
but have different meanings and should have different pronunciations. Homographs are
words that are identical in spelling, but different in meaning and pronunciation (both
in terms of sound composition and therefore the place of stress within the word). Words
that match graphically but have a special sound. homographs entail separate
pronunciation also separate meaning.
Kawamoto in Gottlob (Reading homographs,1999) describes homographs
as having two attractors but are closer to the more frequent (statistically dominant)
pronunciation. Donald (Homograph and Pseudo Homograph,1969) states that
Homographs, not to be confused with homonyms, are words which happen to be
spelled identically but which have totally different meanings and etymologies. In
addition to spelling, most homographic words share the same pronunciation.
Homographs (literally "same writing") are usually defined as words that
share the same spelling, regardless of how they are pronounced. If they are pronounced
the same then they are also homophones (and homonyms) – for example, bark (the
sound of a dog) and bark (the skin of a tree). If they are pronounced differently then,
they are also heteronyms – for example, bow (the front of a ship) and bow (a type of
knot).
Based on the definition, writer concluded that homographs are two words
that same written, but they have different meaning and pronunciation. The examples of
homograph coud be found in English are “can” /kən/ that mean “able” and “can” /kæn/
that mean “tin”.

➢ Examples
Cited from Windasari (2021), the following are the examples of homograph:
• Lead
[Lead /li:d/], to go with or in front of a person or an animal to show the
way or to make them go in the right direction (n)
[Lead /led/], (soft metal) (adj)
• Live
[Live /lĭv/], (have existence) (v)
[Live/laɪv/], (having life (adjective)
• Tear
[Tear/teə(r)/], (make into pieces) (v)
[Tear /tɪə(r)/], (Eyes water) (v)
• Bow
[Bow/baʊ/], (Bending the head as a greeting) (v)
[Bow/bəʊ/], (the device used for shooting arrows) (n)
 • Row
[Row/rəʊ/], (a number of people standing or sitting next to each other
in a line; a number of objects arranged in a line) (v)
[Row/raʊ/], (about/over something, a serious argument between people,
organizations, etc. about something) (n)
• Minute
[Minute/ˈmɪnɪt/], unit of time (n)
[Minute/maɪˈnju ːt/], small (adj)

Anothers example were shown below this sentece that cited from a website
written by Devincenzi (2018), called “Homographs! (words that are written the same
but sound different)”.

• Record
[Record (/ɹəˈkɔːd/)], (accent on the o) is a verb that means to convert
sound or video to a permanent form.
[Record (/ˈɹɛk.ɔːd/)], (accent on the e) is written evidence on a subject,
or a synonym of ‘album’.
• Wind
[Wind (/ˈwɪnd/)], is the natural movement of air.
[To wind (/waɪnd/)], something is to rotate it, often to be able to open
something.
• Wound
[A wound (/wuːnd/)], is an area of damage to the skin.
[Wound (/waʊnd/)], is the past tense and past participle of the verb to
wind.
• Excuse
[To Excuse (/ɛksˈkjuːz/)], is to pardon or forgive.
 [An excuse (/ɛksˈkjuːs/)], is a reason (often poorly made) given to justify
a mistake.
• Polish
[To polish (/ˈpɒlɪʃ/)], something is to smooth the surface. A polish can
also be the substance used to do the polishing.
[A Polish (/ˈpəʊlɪʃ/)], person, is a person from Poland.
• Close
[To close ( /kləʊz/)], something is the opposite of to open something.
[Close (/kləʊs/)], is a synonym of near.
 REFERENCES

Adha, A. Y. (2017). Students’ Error in Lexical Meaning in Communication through

Conversation in the Classroom. Advances in Social Science, Education and
Humanities Research,Vol. 104, pp.443
Devincenzi, S. (2018). Homographs! (words that are written the same but sound
different), accesed on September 11th 2021. https://en-
ingles.com.ar/blog/2018/04/24/homographs-words-that-are-written-the-same-
but-sound-different/
Donald, A. Drury. Homograph and Pseudo Homograph (California: Long Beach
1969), pp. 146
Gottlob, L.R.,et.al.(1999). Reading homographs: Orographic, phonologic, and
semantic dynamics. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology: Human Perception
and Performance, pp.562
Richards, J.C. & Schmidt, R.(2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics.3nd edn. London: Pearson Education Limited. pp. 241.
Tursina, P. & Rahmatan, E. (2017). Analyzing Homographs in Acehnese and English
Languages. Getsempena English Education Journal (GEEJ). Vol.4(2), pp.147-
148
Windasari, N. Y. (2021). Students’ Obstacles in Determining Sense of Relation at
English Department IAIN Langsa. JADEs: Journal of Academia in English
Education. Vol. 2(1), pp.22-23