Noun/verb words & other oddities: Unique to English?

[Fraggle Rocker]

These are homonyms, they can be found in many languages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym

No. "Tear," meaning a drop of liquid falling out of an eye, is pronounced "tier." "Tear," meaning to rip, is pronounced "tare."

"Tear," the noun, and "tear," the verb, are homographs: words with the same spelling but different meanings. It doesn't matter if they're pronounced the same way or not.

"Hamper," a receptacle for dirty clothes, and "hamper," meaning to make a task difficult, are homographs, even though they are pronounced identically.

 

[ElectricFetus]

No. "Tear," meaning a drop of liquid falling out of an eye, is pronounced "tier." "Tear," meaning to rip, is pronounced "tare."

"Tear," the noun, and "tear," the verb, are homographs: words with the same spelling but different meanings. It doesn't matter if they're pronounced the same way or not.

"Hamper," a receptacle for dirty clothes, and "hamper," meaning to make a task difficult, are homographs, even though they are pronounced identically.

So then the problem is words that are spelt the same or even sound the same that have multiple definitions?

Would be great it words only had one definition per spelling and vocalization, but as languages evolve it is inevitable words gather more definitions, eventually evolving into separate words if necessary to distinguish definitions.

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

So then the problem is words that are spelt the same or even sound the same that have multiple definitions? Would be great it words only had one definition per spelling and vocalization, but as languages evolve it is inevitable words gather more definitions, eventually evolving into separate words if necessary to distinguish definitions.

That's just one of many problems. The biggest problem with English spelling (and French, which is just as bad: "toi" is pronounced "twa" and almost every word has two or three silent letters) is that, unlike most of the other European languages, English (and French) spelling has never been reformed.

We still spell most words exactly the same as they were spelled BEFORE Shakespeare! Italian, Polish, German, Spanish... almost every other important European language underwent spelling reform in the 18th or 19th century. But we still write "knight," even though half of those six letters (the K, the G and the H) have been silent for 600 years!

There are dozens of words beginning with the combination "WH," but we couldn't pronounce the H if we wanted to! It's in the wrong place. Or how about the magic silent W in wry, wreath, wrong, wrestle?

We're even worse with our vowels. Year, wear, early: 3 different pronunciations for "EA." Pout, fought, tour: 3 different pronunciations for "OU."

 

[ElectricFetus]

Don't even get me started on English spelling, I have never mastered it and never will.

If we reformed the spelling, in a couple of centuries it will need to be reformed again... that did remind me of something we should do though: http://laughingsquid.com/australian-man-proposes-a-symbol-for-the-word-the/

 

[Sarkus]

Pout, fought, tour: 3 different pronunciations for "OU."

Fought and tour have the same pronunciation of OU for me.
The one that I always remember are the various pronunciations of OUGH.
Rough
Trough
Though
Plough
Through
Thought
Thorough
Etc.
I'm sure there are other ones from the Celtic side of things (variant spelling of loch, if I recall, being lough).

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

Fought and tour have the same pronunciation of OU for me.

In American English (a hybrid of Manhattan and Hollywood phonetics because of the influence of radio and TV), "fought" is pronounced FAWT, whereas "tour" is pronounced TOOR.

I'm sure there are other ones from the Celtic side of things (variant spelling of loch, if I recall, being lough).

"Loch" is the Scots spelling, "lough" is Irish. There is a strong movement to preserve Gaelic in both Scotland and Ireland. It is widely spoken in both countries--although more widely in Ireland, where it is taught in the schools and is the vernacular language in many rural areas. There are dialectical differences, especially in slang and pronunciation, but an Irishman who speaks it fluently will quickly learn to understand a Scotsman who speaks it fluently, and vice versa.

 

[iceaura]

I suspect that English has assimilated more words from more foreign languages than any other language ever has, although I say this with no real quantative evidence to back it up.

You can make a fair case that English consists almost entirely of words assimilated from other languages.

A friend of mine was trying to convince us that the names of all celestial objects are the same in all languages, and are derived from Greek.

The opening scenes of the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" touch on that general take, played for charm - it's a Greek "thing", apparently, cradle of civilization etc. The counterexample in the movie was likewise from the Japanese - "kimono".