(For an explanation of potpourri go to brief description at Potpourri of Homographs and Homophones Analyzed and Explained 1, also go to carralaficklin.com for videos on English and Spanish)
(Part 4a of Long Description, Part 3a and b of Long Description at Potpourri of Homographs and Homophones Analyzed and Explained 3)
It is because English has vowels, consonants and diphthongs which has several pronunciation, English has dozens of homographs, words which are spelt the same but are pronounced differently. Because the diphthong ea has more than one sound, two words written the same can have two or more pronunciations. Read and lead is the homophone of reed and rhymes with bead, weed, deed, seed and knead when it is the infinitive or the simple form of the verb, to read. However, read the homophone of red and rhymes with bed, bled, head, dead and fed when it is the past participle and past tense form of the verb, to read. The s in English has two somewhat distinct pronunciations, s and z; therefore, the words close has two pronunciation. When close is a verb, the s is pronounced like a z; it rhymes with nose, hose, dose, flows and froze. When close is an adverb or an adjective, the s pronounced like an s and it rhymes with host, boast and most. (contains 6 sets of istudycards)
(Part 4b of Long Description, Part 3a and b of Long Description at Potpourri of Homographs and Homophones Analyzed and Explained 3)
Not only vowels, consonants and diphthongs have different pronunciations; the same prefixes and suffixes also can be pronounced differently. The prefix com- has at least two pronunciations. As a result, the words combat (kəm bat´, kum´ bat or kom´ bat ), combine (kom´ bIn or kəm baIn´) and commune (kə mooyn, kóm yoon) are homographs. The suffix –ate has at least two pronunciations as in the homographs coagulate (kõ ag´ yə lãt, kõ ag´ yə lIt) and (kong´ gri gãt or kong´ gri gIt). Other words which are homographs as a result of the various pronunciations of a prefix or suffix are: contest, crooked, decoy and excess.
Confused? Baffled? About to pull your hair out or scream out in frustration? If the answer to the above questions is yes, you are not alone. Native speakers of English can also be confused by their own language. To get a good handle on homophones and homographs, you must understand English the pronunciation of English vowels, consonants and diphthongs. Englishbegin.com can help. Check out all our istudycards on English pronunciation. There are also dozens of mp3s on the different pronunciation of all the vowels and some of the constants and diphthongs. All together, there are more than a hundred products which can help you.
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SKU: a194
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