- monosemy - is the property of having only one meaning
- metonymy - a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for something closely associated with it
- e.g. “The White House declared that we are at war with Mars”
- “The White House” is a metonymy for “The President”
|
Term |
Description |
Examples |
Meaning |
Spelling |
Sound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Homonym |
same spelling or pronunciation but different meaning |
DIFF |
ONE OR MORE SAME | ||
|
Homograph |
same spelling but different meaning |
DIFF |
SAME |
EITHER | |
|
Homophone |
same pronunciation but different meaning or spelling |
ONE OR MORE DIFF |
SAME | ||
|
Heteronym |
same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning |
desert (noun) |
DIFF |
SAME |
DIFF |
|
Heterograph |
same pronunciation but different spelling and meaning |
to |
DIFF |
DIFF |
SAME |
|
Heterophone |
same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning |
desert (noun) |
DIFF |
SAME |
DIFF |
|
Synonym |
same meaning |
couch |
SAME |
EITHER |
EITHER |
|
Polyseme |
same spelling but related and distinct meanings |
mouth (face) |
DIFF |
SAME |
EITHER |
|
Capitonym |
same spelling but different meanings when upper case |
Polish (noun) |
DIFF |
SAME |
EITHER |
Polyseme vs Homonym
Both polysemy and homonymy words have the same syntax or spelling. The main difference between them is that in:
- polysemy, the meanings of the words are related
- homonymy, the meanings of the words are not related
For example, if we talk about the same word “bank”:
- polysemy: ‘a financial institution’ and ‘the building in which such an institution is located’ # similar meanings
- homonym: ‘a financial institution’ and ‘a river bank’ # different meanings
Terms - Other
|
sound |
spelling |
meaning |
examples |
|
|
✘ |
✘ |
✘ |
NA | |
|
✘ |
✘ |
✔ |
couch - sofa | |
|
✘ |
✔ |
✘ |
desert (noun) - desert (verb) | |
|
✘ |
✔ |
✔ |
address - address | |
|
✔ |
✘ |
✘ |
to - two | |
|
✔ |
✘ |
✔ |
color - colour | |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✘ |
fall (verb) - fall (noun) | |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
any word with itself |
