homographs

Question

Unlike English, are all homographs in Spanish also homonyms?

Answer 1

Homographs (same spelling)

Homographs are words with more than one definition. Guess which homograph is being described. Example: something used with a hammer OR part of your finger or toe. Answer: nail.

homonym

Words with the same writing and pronunciation (i.e. homographs and homophones) are considered homonyms. However, in a looser sense the term "homonym" may be applied to words with the same writing or pronunciation

By the looser definition any homograph would be a homonym. I assume you are asking about the stricter definition that the two words be both a homograph and a homophone.

read (noun) and read (verb in past tense) would be homographs, but not homophones (pronounced the same.) be and bee would be homophones, but not homographs

In Spanish are the diacritical words se and sé (de and dé) considered homophones, but not homographs? Interrogative words and exclamatory pronouns Qué and que, etc.? Woud que meaning (that) and que meaning (may) in indirect commands be homonyms? (both homographs and homophones)?

Quite an eye for detail, Q. I even studied it out before making a response and didn't quite get it right. - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

Of course, in Spanish, if it has the same pronunciation, it will have the same spelling and vice-versa. - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

Answer 2

Thanks for all of the responses! I probably should have started by stating what the terms mean to me. I use 'homograph' to refer to words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and etymologies. I use 'homonym' to refer to words that are spelled and pronounced the same but have different meanings and etymologies. In English, all homonyms are homographs, but not conversely: 'wind' the noun and 'wind' the verb are homographs but not homonyms. 'Rebel' the verb and 'rebel' the noun are not homographs because they have the same etymology. In most English dictionaries, homonyms and homographs have separate entries.

I thought that, for example, some foreign words that look exactly like Spanish words might have entered the language without following the Spanish rules of pronunciation, sort of the phonetic counterpart to the violation of normal orthographic rules in forming the plurals of some loan words (e.g., cabaret-->cabarés or suéter-->suéters).

There could be other reasons: Spanish is remarkably consistent phonetically, but not 100%, especially with foreign words. The p in Greek words like 'psicología' is silent, the letter x is pronounced in four different ways, the h immediately following c (now that ch is a digraph) is not exactly silent, etc.

Great points. - 0074b507, Jun 26, 2011

Answer 3

delete-already answered

Of course, in Spanish, if it has the same pronunciation, it will have the same spelling and vice-versa.

Not true. All diacritical words have the same pronounciation (homophones), but different spellings (not homographs).

Quién....Quien This is not a homograph, but is a homophone and even has no change in meaning (who) so it is not a homonym by the stricter definition.

I stand corrected!!! - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

This post should NOT be deleted, Q. It is not just a restatement of gintar's post or anything like that. - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

I agree with webdunce. - gintar77, Jun 25, 2011

Add my vote to the non-deletion petition! - territurtle, Jun 26, 2011

Answer 4

Of course, in Spanish, if it has the same pronunciation, it will have the same spelling and vice-versa

This is not always the case. Take for instance "hay" and "¡Ay!", "yerba" ,"hierba" and "hierva", "asar" and "azar" (if you're not in Spain, anyway) and many more.

Oops! you beat me to it, and you have better examples. - 0074b507, Jun 25, 2011

I stand corrected!!! - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

No problem, I had forgotten about the diacritical words. Great examples! - gintar77, Jun 25, 2011

Answer 5

So far as I know, yes. That is the cool thing about the Spanish spelling system. It is 100% phonetically accurate. So, in Spanish, if two different words are spelled the same, they are also pronounced the same.

A Spanish dictionary does not require a pronunciation guide to be included for each word as the word itself is the pronunciation guide. - webdunce, Jun 25, 2011

You said it, My Man!! - territurtle, Jun 26, 2011

Answer 6

So what is the definition of something like como como como = I eat how/the way I eat?

I'd call it a homonymic paronomasia, and a very good one indeed. - jlupine, Jun 27, 2011

Answer 7

Um, actually, when I think of "homograph," I think of the advanced mathematical discipline of homography. See this link.

Does this mean I have a different opinion?

In a discusssion of grammar and vocabulary, grammatical homographs are more likely than mathematical ones. I remember 'homology' when I took projective geometry, but not 'homography'. - jlupine, Jun 26, 2011