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homonymy,homograp

homonymy

A homonym is a word that is said or spelled the same way as another word but has a different meaning. "Write” and “right” is a good example of a pair of homonyms

Homonym traces back to the Greek words homos, meaning “same,” andonuma, meaning “name.” So a homonym is sort of like two people who have the same name: called the same thing but different. A homonym can be a word that sounds the same as something else — like by (“near”) and buy (“purchase”) — or it can be spelled exactly the same way and pronounced differently — like minute(unit of time) and minute (“tiny”).

homograp

Use the noun homograph to talk about two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and are pronounced differently — like "sow," meaning female pig, and "sow," to plant seeds.

The word homograph merges homos, the Greek word for "same," with graph, "to write." If two words are written identically but don't share a meaning, they are homographs. Some examples are close ("to shut") and close("nearby"); and bass ("deep") and bass("the fish"). Homographs are confusing at first glance, but once you read them in the context of a sentence or hear them spoken aloud, you'll easily figure out which word is intended.

homophone

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophonesbecause they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils.

Other common homophones are writeand right, meet and meat, peace andpiece. You have to listen to the context to know which word someone means if they’re spoken aloud. If they say they like your jeans (genes?), they’re probably talking about your pants and not your height and eye color — but you’d have to figure it out from the situation!

This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let's start with the basics. A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different meaning:

lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)

wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air)

bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish)

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but is spelled differently and has a different meaning:

to/two/too

there/their/they're

pray/prey

Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation. But here's where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to, homonym means either:

A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph); a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone)

OR

A word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone)

So does a homonym have to be both a homograph and a homophone, or can it be just one or the other? As with most things in life, it depends on whom you ask.

In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone.

With so many notable resources pointing to the contrary, are we losing this strict meaning? What then will we call a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another but has a different meaning? If homonym retains all these meanings, how will readers know what is actually meant?

The careful writer would do well to follow the strict sense, ensuring his meaning is understood immediately.

Homonyms, homophones and homographs can bring confusion to even adults and teachers! VocabularySpellingCity can help anyone master these word groups. For clarity, we've brought them all together on one page. It makes it easier to learn the difference among the three types of words using the definitions and homonyms, homophones and homographs examples below.

Homonyms

Homonyms, or multiple meaning words, are words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. For example, bear.

• A bear (the animal) can bear (tolerate) very cold temperatures.


• The driver turned left (opposite of right) and left (departed from) the main road.

Homophones, also known as sound-alike words, are words that are pronounced identically although they have different meanings and often have different spellings as well. These words are a very common source of confusion when writing. Common examples of sets of homophones include: to, too, and two; they're and their; bee and be; sun and son; which and witch; and plain and plane. VocabularySpellingCity is a particularly useful tool for learning to correctly use and spell the soundalike words.

Homographs

Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings and are often pronounced differently as well. Some examples of homographs are:

• bass as in fish vs bass as in music


• bow as in arrow vs bow as in bending or taking a bow at the end of a performance


• close as in next to vs close as in shut the door


• desert as in dry climate vs desert as in leaving alone.

Currently, VocabularySpellingCity cannot distinguish between homographs, as we are unable to have two pronounciations for the exact same word. We are looking for possibilities in the future.

Homonyms Homophones Homographs Multiple meaning words Words that sound alike Same spelling, different pronunciation, different meanings  the spruce tree...  to spruce up...  addition for math  edition of a book  desert = abandon  desert = area of land  suit yourself...  wore a suit...  I want to go  I like it too  One plus one is two  bass = fish  bass = instrument  weigh on the scale...  scale the wall...  capitol building  state capital  close = nearby  close = to shut  the price is fair...  go to the fair...  pick a flower  bake with flour  bow = to bend down  bow = ribbon

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/homonym-homophone-homograph/

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WORD FORMATION

AFFIXATION

In linguistics, affixation is the process of adding a morpheme (or affix) to a word to create either (a) a different form of that word (e.g., bird → birds), or (b) a new word with a different meaning (bird → birder). Affixation is the most common way of making new words in English.
The two primary kinds of affixation are prefixation (the addition of a prefix) and suffixation (the addition of a suffix). Clusters of affixes can be used to form complex words.

Prefixes

A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning. This is a list of the most common prefixes in English, together with their basic meaning and some examples. You can find more detail or precision for each prefix in any good dictionary.

A prefix goes at the beginning of a word. A suffix goes at the end of a word.

SUFFIXES

Unlike a prefix, a suffix is series of letters added at the end of a word. Suffixes fall into one of two categories: inflectional and derivational. 

Inflectional suffixes change the way you understand a word without changing its meaning. For example, what happens when you add the letter 's' to the word 'cookie'? It forms the word 'cookies'...the meaning doesn't change, but now you know there is more than one cookie (which is always a good thing!). Inflectional suffixes can also change the tense of a base word from present to past by adding the letters '-ed' (change 'walk' to 'walked') or can make the root word comparative or superlative by adding '-er' or '-est' ('big' becomes 'bigger' or 'biggest'). Again, the words have changed, but the meaning has not. 

Derivational suffixes change the meaning of a word. In addition to changing the meaning of a word, derivational suffixes can change an adjective to a noun or a verb, or change a noun to an adjective. The list below includes common derivational suffixes that you encounter on a daily basis:

• -able (able to do)
• -acy (quality)
• -er (someone who does something)
• -esque (similar to)
• -ish (having a similar quality)
• -ism (a belief)
• -ist (someone who does something)
• -less (without)

Let's take a look at a suffix in action. Think about the suffix '-less' and how it changes the nouns 'fear', 'friend', and 'emotion':

·      Fear becomes fearless, meaning “without fear”

·      Friend becomes friendless, meaning “without friends”

·      Emotion becomes emotionless, meaning “without emotion”

(http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-an-affix-definition-examples.html)

INFIXES

An infix is a word element (a type of affix) that can be inserted within the base form of a word (rather than at its beginning or end) to create a new word or intensify meaning. Also called an integrated adjective. The process of inserting an infix is called infixation.

(http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/infixterm.htm)

CONFIXES

The term “confix” refers to a specific type of affix. Confixes are composed of at least one prefix and one suffix, which are placed on either side of a root word. When a confix is added to a root, a new meaning separate from the meaning of the root word by itself is created. The term “circumfix” is often used interchangeably with “confix.” Confixes are used extensively in Indonesian and Malay, and they appear to varying degrees in many other languages, such as Arabic, German and Japanese, to name a few.

“Confix” derives from Latin roots; con means “with” and fix means “attach” in this context. Unlike a prefix, which is attached to the front of a root, or a suffix, which is attached to the end, a confix is divided and attached to both ends. The fact that the separate parts of confixes appear on different sides of the root makes confixes discontinuous morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest units of a word that carry meaning. Though confixes are discontinuous, both of their halves must be present for the meaning to be formed.

(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-confix.htm)

SUPERFIXES

Superfixes a suprasegmental feature distinguishing the meaning or grammatical function of one word or phrase from that of another, as stress does for example between the noun conduct and the verb conduct.

(from super- + -fix, on the model of prefix, suffix)

(http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/superfix)

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Idiom

IDIOM

Simple Definition of idiom
: an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own
: a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations
: a style or form of expression that is characteristic of a particular person, type of art, etc.
Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary
Examples: idiom in a sentence




Full Definition of idiom
1
a :  the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class :  dialect
b :  the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
2
:  an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasn't me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (as ride herd on for “supervise”)
3
:  a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument <the modern jazz idiom>; broadly :  manner, style <a new culinary idiom



Idioms exist in every language. An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally, like “bought the farm” has nothing to do with purchasing real estate, but refers to dying. Idiom also refers to a dialect or jargon of a group of people, either in a certain region or a group with common interests, like in science, music, art, or business.
Common Idioms

Some idioms are used by most people that speak English; others are used by a more select group.Common idioms that refer to people include:
A chip on your shoulder - means you are holding a grudge
High as a kite - means you are drunk or on drugs
Sick as a dog - means you are very ill
Idioms that refer to your actions would be:
Rub someone the wrong way - meaning to annoy or bother
Jump the gun - would mean to be doing something early
Pay the piper - means you need to face the consequences of your actions
Some idioms use color words to convey other meanings. For example, there are several that use the word “blue:”
“The blues” can refer to both a style of music and feeling sad.
If something occurs rarely, it is said to happen “once in a blue moon”, because a blue moon is two full moons in one month, which doesn’t happen often.
“Out of the blue” means something happens that was unexpected.
Learning a Language with Idioms

Because of idioms, learning a language can be complicated. After you can conjugate verbs, and know a lot of words, you may still have difficulty speaking the language with native users.This is partly due to the use of idioms and would also depend of which region of a country you were in. Idiom usage is not just regional, but also varies according to people’s interests and social groups.The best way to pick up on the meaning of certain idioms would be to converse with people and ask them for a clarification of the idiom if you are.

 best way to pick up on the meaning of certain idioms would be to converse with people and ask them for a clarification of the idiom if you are not clear about the idiom they used. There are also sites on the Internet which will help explain the meaning of idioms.
Idioms Around the Globe

There are certain things that happen in every culture and there are idioms to deal with them.
In Norwegian and Czech, “walking around hot porridge” refers to beating around the bush, which is also an idiom meaning not getting to the point.
If you are in Italy or Turkey and you say you are “as hungry as a wolf” then you are starving.
If it is raining in large amounts, most cultures have an interesting way of saying that:
In English, it would be “raining cats and dogs”
In Africa, they might say “it's raining old women with clubs”
Many languages refer to heavy rain as coming in buckets or as rain coming out of a bucket.
In Norway they say “it's raining female trolls”
The Irish say “it's throwing cobblers knives”
Comparing idioms between countries can also be interesting:
In Finnish, “with long teeth” means you are doing something that you really don’t want to do
In French, “to have long teeth” means you are ambitious.
The key to understanding the local idioms is to listen carefully and to ask questions of local speakers.
Idioms In the Arts

There are many idioms in the field of music.
If you “fine tune” something, you make small improvements to it.
“Changing your tune” means changing your mind.
If you are “whistling Dixie” or “whistling in the dark” you are overly positive about something.
If you try and make a decision too early without knowing all the facts, people may tell you that “it’s not over ‘till the fat lady sings.”
Drama and dance have idioms, too, like:
“Break a leg” means good luck.
If you are a “ham” you overact.
If you say, “it takes two to tango” you mean that more than one person is at fault or involved.
If you “tap dance” your way out of a sticky situation.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom

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Proverb

Proverb

A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. Proverbs fall into the category of formulaic language.

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe. Mieder has concluded that cultures that treat the Bible as their "major spiritual book contain between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible.However, almost every culture has examples of its own unique proverbs.
Defining a “proverb” is a difficult task. Proverb scholars often quote Archer Taylor’s classic “The definition of a proverb is too difficult to repay the undertaking... An incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial and that one is not. Hence no definition will enable us to identify positively a sentence as proverbial”. Another common definition is from Lord John Russell (c. 1850) “A proverb is the wit of one, and the wisdom of many.”

More constructively, Mieder has proposed the following definition, “A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation. Norrick created a table of distinctive features to distinguish proverbs from idioms, cliches, etc. Prahlad distinguishes proverbs from some other, closely related types of sayings, “True proverbs must further be distinguished from other types of proverbial speech, e.g. proverbial phrases, Wellerisms, maxims, quotations, and proverbial comparisons.”[6] Based on Persian proverbs, Zolfaghari and Ameri propose the following definition: "A proverb is a short sentence, which is well-known and at times rhythmic, including advice, sage themes and ethnic experiences, comprising simile, metaphor or irony which is well-known among people for its fluent wording, clarity of expression, simplicity, expansiveness and generality and is used either with or without change

There are many sayings in English that are commonly referred to as “proverbs”, such as weather sayings. Alan Dundes, however, rejects including such sayings among truly proverbs: “Are weather proverbs proverbs? I would say emphatically 'No!'”[8] The definition of “proverb” has also changed over the years. For example, the following was labeled “A Yorkshire proverb” in 1883, but would not be categorized as a proverb by most today, “as throng as Throp's wife when she


Examples

See also: List of proverbial phrases
Haste makes waste
A stitch in time saves nine
Ignorance is bliss
Mustn't cry over spilled milk.
You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Fortune favours the bold
Well begun is half done.
A little learning is a dangerous thing
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings
It is better to be smarter than you appear than to appear smarter than you are.
Good things come to those who wait.
A poor workman blames his tools.
A dog is a man's best friend.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
If the shoe fits, wear it!
Honesty is the best policy
Slow and steady wins the race
Don't count your chickens before they hatch





http://www.dictionary.com/browse/proverb

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-proverbs.html

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Polysemy

                     Polysemy


A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. Since the test for polysemy is the vague concept of relatedness, judgments of polysemy can be difficult to make. Because applying pre-existing words to new situations is a natural process of language change, looking at words' etymology is helpful in determining polysemy but not the only solution; as words become lost in etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so. Some apparently unrelated words share a common historical origin, however, so etymology is not an infallible test for polysemy, and dictionary writers also often defer to speakers' intuitions to judge polysemy in cases where it contradicts etymology. English has many words which are polysemous. For example, the verb "to get" can mean "procure" (I'll get the drinks), "become" (she got scared), "understand" (I get it) etc.

In vertical polysemy a word refers to a member of a subcategory (e.g., 'dog' for 'male dog').A closely related idea is metonym, in which a word with one original meaning is used to refer to something else connected to it.

There are several tests for polysemy, but one of them is zeugma: if one word seems to exhibit zeugma when applied in different contexts, it is likely that the contexts bring out different polysemes of the same word. If the two senses of the same word do not seem to fit, yet seem related, then it is likely that they are polysemous. The fact that this test again depends on speakers' judgments about relatedness, however, means that this test for polysemy is not infallible, but is rather merely a helpful conceptual aid.

Polysemy is the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings. A polyseme is a word or phrase with multiple meanings. Adjective: polysemous or polysemic.

In contrast, a one-to-one match between a word and a meaning is called monosemy. According to William Croft, "Monosemy is probably most clearly found in specialized vocabulary dealing with technical topics" (The Handbook of Linguistics, 2003).

When a word or phrase has several meanings, you can describe that word as polysemous. One word that's famously polysemous is "bank."
You can choose a pronunciation for this adjective with stress on the second or third syllable since most dictionaries give both. Polysemous is a word lover's favorite, since it's about the meanings of words — lots of them in this case. Its complementary buddy is monosemous, which describes words that have only one meaning. The Greek root of polysemous is polysemos, "of many senses."


When a word or phrase has several meanings, you can describe that word as polysemous. One word that's famously polysemous is "bank."
You can choose a pronunciation for this adjective with stress on the second or third syllable since most dictionaries give both. Polysemous is a word lover's favorite, since it's about the meanings of words — lots of them in this case. Its complementary buddy is monosemous, which describes words that have only one meaning. The Greek root of polysemous is polysemos, "of many senses."

Examples


I  went walking this morning

We went for a walk last Sunday

Do you walk the dog every day?

I live near Meadow Walk Drive

The wardrobe is too heavy to lift; we’ll have to walk it into the bedroom (move a large object by rocking).

She walks the tower (to haunt a place as a ghost).

The workers threatened to walk (to go on strike).

Walk with God! (to live your life in a particular way)




http://www.afv.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161:polysemy-a-homonymy&catid=121:miscellaneous&Itemid=352

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