We’ve all heard of synonyms and antonyms. But have you ever heard of a heteronym?
Heteronyms are words that are spelled identically but have different meanings depending on how they are pronounced.
Consider the following sentence: He fished for bass while the bass played in the background. The first bass (with a short a) refers to an edible fish. The second bass (long a) refers to a stringed instrument.
As in this case, heteronyms often have no relationship to each other except for spelling. Appropriate is an adjective meaning “suitable” when pronounced one way; it’s a verb meaning “to set apart” when pronounced differently. A primer, depending on pronunciation, may mean “an undercoat of paint” or “a book that covers the basics.”
More often, heteronyms stem from the same root word and are related to each other. Laminate, for example, may be a verb (with a long a) meaning “to assemble from thin sheets glued together.” Or it can be a noun (short a) meaning “material formed from gluing thin sheets together.” Also, the word record: It’s both the act of making a recording and the recording itself.
Some words become heteronyms only when a plural is involved. For example, ellipses is plural for both ellipse (an oval) and ellipsis (a set of three dots). Does is a form of the verb to do as well as the plural of a female deer.
Only one set of heteronyms represents both the present and past tense of the same word: read.
Most heteronyms are doubles, but you can occasionally stretch a double into a triple. For example, the word mobile may be pronounced in three ways and mean 1) free to move easily, 2) a decorative structure that may be hung so as to turn freely, or 3) a city in Alabama.
Versailles could be considered a heteronym. If you pronounce it one way, you’re about 20 miles west of Lexington; pronouncing it another way, you’re in the heart of France.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or 859-254-4175.