Words spelled in another word

This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let’s start with the basics. A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different meaning:

lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)

wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air)

bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish)

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but has a different meaning. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling. Here are some examples:

to/two/too

there/their/they’re

pray/prey

Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation. But here’s where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to, homonym means either:

A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph); a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone)

OR

A word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone)

So does a homonym have to be both a homograph and a homophone, or can it be just one or the other? As with most things in life, it depends on whom you ask.

In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone.

With so many notable resources pointing to the contrary, are we losing this strict meaning? What then will we call a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another but has a different meaning? If homonym retains all these meanings, how will readers know what is actually meant?

The careful writer would do well to follow the strict sense, ensuring his meaning is understood immediately.

The single word for this is variant. More completely variant spelling.

variant spelling

noun

A different spelling for a single word. Typically a US vs. UK or US vs. Commonwealth distinction.

For example, color and colour are the same word spelt in the American and British styles respectively. You’d think there’d be a word for this that fits into this system:

homograph

Use the noun homograph to talk about two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and are pronounced differently — like «sow,» meaning female pig, and «sow,» to plant seeds.
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homonym

A homonym is a word that is said or spelled the same way as another word but has a different meaning. «Write” and “right” is a good example of a pair of homonyms.
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homophone

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophones because they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils.

vocabulary.com: homonym-homophone-homograph

The hetero prefix is the counterpoint to homo prefix used here. Hetero means different where homo means the same. So one might imagine hetrograph is the word you want. However:

Heterographs are words that sound the same as other words, but they have different spellings and different meanings. For the English language learner or for young students, these words can be very confusing.

google: heterograph definition

So heterograph doesn’t work if you want this exact meaning. There is a very similar question on linguistics that illustrates the distinctions with a Venn diagram.

This originally comes from the wikipedia article on Homonym’s which has a very easy to read table:

that is clearly missing your meaning:

      Term       | Meaning | Spelling  | Pronunciation
-----------------+---------+-----------+--------------
Variant spelling | Same    | Different | Same

When the dictionary lists two alternate spellings of a word, should you use your judgment (or is that judgement?), or is there some other criterion for selection? Most dictionaries describe what is, rather than prescribe what should be — hence the alternatives — but they usually favor one form over the other. For both convenience and consistency, follow the dictionary’s indirect dictates.

In printed dictionaries, the preferred form will have the full definition, while the runner-up will be cross-referenced to the winner. Online, the spelling in the Web page’s heading indicates the preference, though the other choice will likely also be listed. Here are some common entries with more than one orthography:

1. Acknowledgment/acknowledgement: Acknowledgment, though it looks awkward because the spelling implies that the g is pronounced hard, rather than (correctly) soft, is the preferred spelling, at least in American English.

2. Adviser/advisor: Adviser is the preferred spelling, though it is inconsistent with the spelling of the adjectival form advisory.

3. Aesthetic/esthetic: Aesthetic is the preferred spelling, a rare case of the digraph retained in American English in favor of a single-vowel spelling. (See also amoeba/ameba and archaeology/archeology.)

4. Ameba/amoeba: Amoeba is the preferred spelling. It also has variant plural forms: Amoebas is acceptable in all but the most strictly scientific contexts, where amoebae is preferred.

5. Amok/amuck: Amok is the traditional spelling, preferred to amuck.

6. Among/amongst: The -st extension is, in both American English and British English, widely considered an unnecessary appendage. (The same preference applies for amid/amidst and while/whilst; whilst is, at any rate, rare in American English.)

7. Analog/analogue: Analog is one of fourteen words in which the original -ue ending is clipped. Whether one form or the other is preferred varies depending on not only the word but also, occasionally, on which part of speech it represents. Most one- and two-syllable words ending in -ue have no truncated variant; prologue is the exception.

8. Archaeology/archeology: The version with the ae digraph is preferred over the single-vowel form.

9. Ax/axe: Ax is the preferred spelling, alone and in compounds (axman, battle-ax).

10. Collectable/collectible: Collectible is the preferred variant.

11. Barbecue/Barbeque: Barbeque is a variant of barbecue influenced by the truncation BBQ.

12. Disc/disk: Disc is a variant of disk, though it has valid status in the “phrase compact disc” and references to similar media.

13. Donut/doughnut: Donut is an informal variant of doughnut.

14. Enquire/inquire: Inquire is the preferred American English spelling, but in British English, enquire prevails.

15. Flier/flyer: Spelling depends on meaning. See this post, in which I conclude that pilots and passengers are fliers, and posted papers are flyers.

16. Gray/grey: Gray is the preferred spelling in American English; British English favors grey.

17. Nite/night: Nite is an informal variant of night.

18. Theater/theatre: The former spelling is preferred in American English, though the latter form sometimes appears in proper names.

19. Toward/towards: In American English, towards and other similar words are considered informal variants of the forms in which the s is omitted.

20. Whiskey/whisky: The former spelling is more common in the United States (as well as in Ireland), though usage in labeling varies.

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term «commonly misspelled words«^[1][2] (or sometimes, «common misspelled words») is about words in English that are often spelled wrongly.

In writing, some words are often misspelled, such as the wrong spelling «concensus»^[3] for «consensus»
^[4]
found in many webpages on the Internet.^[3] Other common misspellings include «equiptment» (for «equipment»),^[3][5]
«independant» (for «independent»),^[3][6]
«readible» (for readable),^[7][8]
or «usible» (for usable).^{[3][7][9][10][11][12]}

Documented list of common misspellings[change | change source]

This list of about 350 words, is based on documented lists^[3][10] of the top 100, 200, or 400^[7] most commonly misspelled words, rather than listing every misspelled word. Each word is followed by examples of misspellings:

A–B[change | change source]

C–D[change | change source]

E–H[change | change source]

I–K[change | change source]

L–O[change | change source]

P–Q[change | change source]

R–S[change | change source]

T–Z[change | change source]

Common causes of those misspellings[change | change source]

Mispronunciation[change | change source]

Mispronunciation is one of the most common causes of misspelling.^[14]

Typing errors[change | change source]

Some spelling errors are because people’s typing is not perfect, such as

• letters are doubled or tripled, such as «careeer» and «betweeen»
• letters are singled, such as «betwen»
• keys are transposed, so «because» becomes «becuase».

Foreign words[change | change source]

A misspelling in English might be a legitimate spelling in another language; for example, the word «address» is spelled in German as «adress» (one letter «d»). «immigrate» can be written «inmigrate» by speakers of Spanish.

Notes[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

• «100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English», LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage: YDict Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine.
• «Canadian, British and American Spelling», LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-spelling.
• «Canadian, British and American Spelling: Some Commonly Misspelled Words», LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-misspelled.
• «Merriam-Webster Online» (results for misspelling as «concensus»), Merriam-Webster, 2008, webpage: MW-concensus.
• «200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 1)», Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-A.
• «200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 2)», Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-B Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine.
• «200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 3)», Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-C.

Other websites[change | change source]

• «100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English», LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage: YDict-100 Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine.

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The English language doesn’t make it easy to have flawless writing. In fact, it can be downright complicated especially with the number of words that sound the same, but have a different spelling and a different meaning.  If writing in English is  your job or some aspect of your job, it is so important to have all t’s crossed and i’s dotted. This is the hallmark of a good transcriber and a good writer.  Because of words that are pronounced the same but have a different spelling, a writer can create confusion for the reader and reflect poorly on the writer’s skills if  those pesky words are not caught during proofreading.

Words that sound the same, but are spelled differently are  homonyms, a great sounding word for a quirky little part of the English language meant  to slip up the average spellcheck on your computer. You must be hyper-vigilent for the possibilities of these little words slipping in and ruining what may have been a perfectly good document or transcription.

I’ve listed a few words here (or is it hear?) that are common culprits. Let’s have a go at this –words with the  same sound,  different spelling:

Pear           Pare              Pair

Be               Bee

Lye              Lie

Fair             Fare

Bass            Base

Bow             Bough

Lead             Led

Too               To                 Two

Their            There           They’re

Mail              Male

Plane            Plain

Genes           Jeans

Deer              Dear

Hear              Here

Right            Write

Dye                Die

Week            Weak

Prey              Pray

Bridal           Bridle

Site                Cite                Sight

Principle      Principal

Buy                Bye

Yes, these are just a few of the  little words that can trip up any  simple spellcheck. I’m sure you can add more. Happily, there are some grammar and spellcheck programs that can ferret out homonyms. Still, good transcribers and writers should be on the lookout for  the homonym when proofreading. As with any other grammatical or spelling error, there is always the chance that a homonym may sneak through. Flawless is what we aim for in our writing, certainly in any transcription business, and one homonym can ruin that.

So, the lesson in this writing is transcribers and writers must remain alert for the spoilers, the homonyms, the unique words that sound the same, but have a different spelling and a different meaning. They can be the weak (or is it week?) spot in your writing.

Write On!

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This entry was posted on July 3, 2013 at 10:32 am and is filed under Writing Tutorial. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post’s comments.

Tags: English language, homonyms, transcriber, transcription

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