English has too many homophones

HA! try Mandarin :D


Mandarin

My favorite, which messes up many Chinese speakers when they speak English (they have a habit of using he and she interchangeably)

: 他 (He) and 她 (she)

And then there are these

yóuyú: 由于 (“because of; due to”) and 鱿鱼 (“squid”)
chénmò: 沉默 (“silent; taciturn”) and 沉没 (“to sink”)
jìyì: 记忆 (“remember”) and 技艺 (“skill; art”)
jiāodài: 交代 or 交待 (“to hand over; to explain; to make clear; et al”) and 胶带 (“tape”)
yuányīn: 原因 (“cause; origin; reason”) and 元音 (“vowel”)
bēijù: 悲剧 (“tragedy”) and 杯具 (“cups; tragedy, as a euphemism”)
wángguó: 王国 (“kingdom”) and 亡国 (“country/kingdom heading for destruction or that has vanished”)
quánlì: 权利 (“power; right; privilege”) and 权力 (“power; authority”)
yìyì: 意义 (“sense; meaning; significance”) and 异议 (“objection; dissent”), plus 意译 (“meaning-based translation”)
mílù: 迷路 (“to get lost”) and 麋鹿 (“Père David’s deer; milu”)
bǐshì: 鄙视 (“despise; disdain; look down upon”) and 笔试 (“written examination”)
lìzi(zǐ): 例子 (“example”) and 粒子 (“grain; particle”)
shǒushì: 手势 (“gesture; signal”) and 首饰 (“jewellery”), plus 守势 (“defensive position”)
gōngshì: 公式 (“formula”) and 攻势 (“military offensive”)
xiāngjiāo: 香蕉 (“banana”) and 相交 (“to cross over; to intersect; to make friends”)
xíngli(lǐ): 行李 (“luggage”) and 行礼 (“to salute”)
lìhai(hài): 厉害 (“ferocious; awesome; et al”) and 利害 (“pros and cons”)
dǔzhù: 堵住 (“to block up”) and 赌注 (“stake (in a gamble)”)
qǐngkè: 请客 (“to entertain guests”) and 顷刻 (“instantly”)
zhìfú: 制服 (“to subdue; to check; uniform; et al”) and 制伏 (“to overpower; to control; et al”)
pípa: 枇杷 (“loquat”) and 琵琶 (“pipa, the Chinese lute”)
róngyì: 容易 (“easy”) and 溶液 (“solution, in chemistry” – this homophone exists in Taiwan only, in mainland China it is pronounced róngyè)
shèngshì: 盛世 (“prosperous period”) and 盛事 (“grand occasion”)
bàofù: 报复 (“revenge”) and 抱负 (“aspiration; ambition”)
jùbiàn: 巨变 (“massive changes”) and 剧变 (“fast change”)
xīnsuān: 心酸 (“sad”) and 辛酸 (“spicy and sour” – can also be used as a metaphor for sadness)
pǐnwèi: 品味 (“to sample; to taste”) and 品位 (“rank; grade; aesthetic taste”)
zhēnchá: 侦查 (“to detect; to investigate”) and 侦察 (“to investigate a crime; to scout; et al”)
guǎnzhì: 管制 (“to control; to supervise”) and 管治 (“to govern”)
yǐnqíng: 隐情 (“facts one wishes to keep secret; ulterior motive”) and 引擎 (“engine”)
guòdù: 过度 (“excessive”) and 过渡 (“to cross over; et al”)
mùdì: 目的 (“goal”) and 墓地 (“graveyard; burial ground; cemetery”)

And don't get me started on words that sound the same to the typical western ear but are vastly different based on tone.

Horse > 马
Hemp > 麻
Scold > 骂

You can add two more in Vietnamese; ma - ghost, ma - mother.

I think I told the story before about when I was in Vietnam, I met an attractive but slightly overweight young lady who was very personable, and interested in speaking Vietnamese with me since so few GIs did. We had talked for a bit switching back and forth when she said something and I replied affirmatively in English, "Yes M'am." She became very angry.

I asked her why and she said "You know what you said!" I told her I did but why was she angry. That went back and forth a couple of times and she let me know I wasn't so skinny either (which I wasn't, but I didn't understand what that had to do with our conversation). Anyway, our conversations were over. I walked away puzzled. I had to wait to get back to my room and consult my largest cross dictionary to find out that m'am with the (unintentional) tone I had used, meant among other things, fat. If she is still alive and remembers me and that conversation, I am sure she considers me the worst Ugly American." :(

Believe me, in tonal languages, tones are very important, and in Vietnamese, vowels too (up to 4 vowel diphthongs). I found it difficult to mispronounce a Vietnamese word. You either said another word or gibberish. The latter being preferable. :)
 
You can add two more in Vietnamese; ma - ghost, ma - mother.

I think I told the story before about when I was in Vietnam, I met an attractive but slightly overweight young lady who was very personable, and interested in speaking Vietnamese with me since so few GIs did. We had talked for a bit switching back and forth when she said something and I replied affirmatively in English, "Yes M'am." She became very angry.

I asked her why and she said "You know what you said!" I told her I did but why was she angry. That went back and forth a couple of times and she let me know I wasn't so skinny either (which I wasn't, but I didn't understand what that had to do with our conversation). Anyway, our conversations were over. I walked away puzzled. I had to wait to get back to my room and consult my largest cross dictionary to find out that m'am with the (unintentional) tone I had used, meant among other things, fat. If she is still alive and remembers me and that conversation, I am sure she considers me the worst Ugly American." :(

Believe me, in tonal languages, tones are very important, and in Vietnamese, vowels too (up to 4 vowel diphthongs). I found it difficult to mispronounce a Vietnamese word. You either said another word or gibberish. The latter being preferable. :)
Is a poignant depiction <3 shows like even from the smallest act, either intended or unintended can our life change in the biggest ways.. can you regret anything though? when there is never any such thing as a right path.. just the path we are on.. Wishes x
 
Technically not. I speak American. At least that's what they officially call the main language spoken in the USA.
But you misspelled it. Remember, we drop the iniial "A" so it is really what we speak.

Merican.
 
I didn't know how to properly convey the pronounciation, ya got me.
 
A big problem with homophones is it also gives people the opportunity to troll, as has happened in this forum and in other forums.
 
A big problem with homophones is it also gives people the opportunity to troll, as has happened in this forum and in other forums.


Sir even within the different countries over in the Uk a word can mean something different lol.......and that before any loan words are stolen from the native languages over here used in English to mean one thing where as they might mean something else depending on context and even spelling as in my own language pronunciation can mean a different word lol and that before ya get to writing it down lol an example is BATA ... spelt and said that way (short first vowel) it means (or can depending on dialect) stick but put a grav accent over the first vowel and it then becomes a boat lol (the grav lengthens the vowel ...there used to be acute accents but they dropped then a while back lol and the other thing is my native language only has 18 letters in the alphabet )
 
I’m a big fan of a word that sounds identical in different languages, yet have COMPLETELY different meanings.

English - boots: type of shoe
Armenian - boots: impolite slang for vagina

Growing up speaking both languages in my home, and with a grandmother who didn’t understand English very well, that word in particular got some interesting responses to say the least.
 
Homophonic:
having or showing a dislike of or a prejudice against words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings origins or spellings.
 
A big problem with homophones is it also gives people the opportunity to troll, as has happened in this forum and in other forums.
In what way do you mean? Can you point to some examples? I think some people troll others, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone use homophones to do it.

Sir even within the different countries over in the Uk a word can mean something different lol.......and that before any loan words are stolen from the native languages over here used in English to mean one thing where as they might mean something else depending on context and even spelling as in my own language pronunciation can mean a different word lol and that before ya get to writing it down lol an example is BATA ... spelt and said that way (short first vowel) it means (or can depending on dialect) stick but put a grav accent over the first vowel and it then becomes a boat lol (the grav lengthens the vowel ...there used to be acute accents but they dropped then a while back lol and the other thing is my native language only has 18 letters in the alphabet )
Jesus, man. This entire post of yours is one sentence. Punctuation is your friend.
keep-calm-and-punctuate-10.png
 
In what way do you mean? Can you point to some examples? I think some people troll others, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone use homophones to do it.

Jesus, man. This entire post of yours is one sentence. Punctuation is your friend.
keep-calm-and-punctuate-10.png


Sorry teach I shall endeavour to use the correct punctuation in future
 
Lol. Just give me a period every few lines, and a comma here and there.

Next time @Tez3 mentions Queen's English I'm pointing her to you! :)


Ah but I do not speak nor write the Queens English. I learned English at school
 
Ah but I do not speak nor write the Queens English. I learned English at school
Okay. @Tez3 is off the hook, then. I'm sure she will be very relieved to learn that you are not sullying the reputation of the British Empire with your lackadaisical grammar. :D
 
Okay. @Tez3 is off the hook, then. I'm sure she will be very relieved to learn that you are not sullying the reputation of the British Empire with your lackadaisical grammar. :D


Ummmm one should bear in mind that the Empire no longer exists. That is an all to distant memory and I was not born when we were still an empire and I doubt @Tez3 was either as in effect those days ended before the lights went out all over Europe
 
Ummmm one should bear in mind that the Empire no longer exists. That is an all to distant memory and I was not born when we were still an empire and I doubt @Tez3 was either as in effect those days ended before the lights went out all over Europe
If there were no empire, then how could Kiera Knightley recently be appointed Officer of the British Empire? It's just a very small empire, but we aren't here to judge.
 
If there were no empire, then how could Kiera Knightley recently be appointed Officer of the British Empire? It's just a very small empire, but we aren't here to judge.


Oh they have kept the words in some of the orders and honours.
The Empire was anything but small my friend anything but and as such we still do have a seat at the top table.
Oh and the OBE is not the only honour that contains the "empire" lol, there are others to lol and ones that go even further back in what they allude to lol but lets not get into a history lesson
 
Out here, pidgin is spoken a lot. It's local slang.

Ho, look braddah on dat wave. He geev’um brah. Let's go see dat tita, she his sistah, not her, da one with the hammajang nose, she got some ono pakalolo and dakine grindz around, we have a kanak attack, it's pau hana, bruh!

Wassamattah you? Cannah talk da kine?
 
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