Homophones and Homonyms

Sabir Zhakaw

Within linguistic systems and levels, we encounter several phenomena, states, and processes that fall under polysemy¹. These emerge from semantic² and pragmatic³ phenomena in linguistics and produce semantic ambiguity at the lexical level. Through the lexeme⁴ and the lexicon⁵ of a language, they encompass several distinct semantic states. These appear differently across form, aesthetics, orthography, grammar, syllable, force, intonation, stress, and other domains, producing differences in meaning, articulation, hearing, perception, and comprehension. Examples include the following.

Homonymy⁶

At this level, across languages and especially within Kurdish, we encounter lexical items whose phonetic forms are identical and are pronounced and produced alike, yet whose lexical meanings differ, sometimes entirely. Their written forms may also differ from one another.

For example, دەر Daɾ functions both as an independent word and as a derivational affix and carries several meanings. The form هەواڵ Hawɑːɫ has two distinct lexical data entries in Kurdish: one denotes the rapid communication or reporting of an event or subject, while the other means ‘friend’ or ‘companion’. The word شیر Ʃiːɾ can denote the animal شێر Ʃeːɾ and can also denote the white product of an animal’s mammary glands. The form ساز Sɑːz can mean ‘beautiful and lively’ or ‘ready’. The form کاڵ Kɑːɫ can mean ‘not fully colored’ or ‘unripe’. The morpheme or affix تر Tɾ can mean ‘other’, while the comparative morpheme تر Tɾ carries the meaning expressed in superlative gradation.

At the phonological level in Kurdish, neutral and lengthened /و/ also appear in forms such as دو and دوو, and in morphological processes such as ئازادی and ئازادیی. These are particular lexical states that enter the process of homonymy. Other Kurdish examples include particles such as:

با، لە، تا، هەتا، کە، چ، جا، ڕا، گەر...

Examples of homonymous Kurdish affixes include:

کە، بەر، سەر، پێ، تێ، ان...

Homophony⁷

This category comprises lexical items whose written forms are distinct and whose graphic appearance differs in writing, while their phonetic realization and pronunciation are shared and alike. They differ across the mechanisms of distinctive sound, syllable, force, intonation, and stress, which in turn causes pronunciation and lexical meaning to differ. That is, the word is written alike but its pronunciation and articulation differ. This condition belongs to the family of homophony, with little difference between the forms.

Kurdish examples in the phonetic corpus include [و] and [وو], and [ی] and [یی], as in [نوس] and [ئازادی]. Other Kurdish examples include:

Affixes: گە _ گا، یەک _ یێک
گوێ، *چوێ، گیان _ *چیان
ئەمشەو _ ئەمشۆ
سەت _ سەد

Sources

Sabir Zhakaw, Kurdish Morphology, forthcoming.

Wells, John, ed. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed. Pearson Longman.

Barker (22 August 2016). “Syllables”. Linguistics.

Mogg, K.; Bradley, B. P.; Miller, T.; Potts, H.; Glenwright, J.; Kentish, J. (1994). “Interpretation of Homophones.”

Johan Harold Josua Lindahl (1893). Description of a Skull of Megalonyx Leidyi, p. 56.

Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Perseus Digital Library.