Image Credit: Asterfolio
Texting has become second nature to us as the most common form of communication we share. Short Messaging Service (SMS) produces an abbreviated way to have a conversation. Quite honestly, I am not a fan of texting because I prefer to talk. Yet, the main reason why I don’t like to text is that I am compelled to correct my misspelled words, which takes longer to write a short message. In addition, autocorrect sometimes has a mind of its own. We are so used to writing words with acronyms that we have lost our ability to remember how to spell correctly or formally communicate.
Communicating with a few writers trying to make writing a career, admit to having problems with heterophones vs. homophones in their sentence structures. Trust me, I have to frequently check my linguistic usage in this area when typing or writing. The misuse of heterophones (no it’s not a new smartphone, but perhaps it should be), and homophones can create a writing quandary, and communication nightmare.
A homophone is one of two or more words such as “night” and “knight,” that are pronounced the same, but differ in meaning, origin, and sometimes spelling. Words such as “their,” “there,” and “they’re” are completely different when used in sentences. Another very common homophone misusage is “your” and “you’re.”
Heterophones are words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings, such as desert (to abandon) and desert (an arid region). Heterophones are a type of homonym and are also called heteronyms. Some examples of heterophones include: “Minute” (pronounced “my-newt”; an adjective meaning miniature, minuscule, small), and minute (pronounced “min-net”; a noun meaning moment, second or instant). Then there is “present” (pronounced “pri-zent”; a verb meaning to bring or introduce socially); and present (pronounced “pre-zent”; a noun meaning a gift, offering, or to bestow). One last example is “read” (pronounced “reed”; a present tense verb to interpret writing) and read (pronounced “red”; a past tense verb of writing interpreted).
Yes, we learned about homophones and heterophones in elementary and high school English classes. Sometimes we have to take a refresher course to get back up to speed, especially if we are writers or authors. But, linguistically speaking, words matter. When you “write” you want to be sure you are “right.” Speaking from experience, the little mistakes we don’t think matter, can make the stakes costly. I do not claim to be “purrrrfect” but I try to make my faults and defects less imperfect and more “per-fict!” 😜
Image Credit: Jakob
From Behind the Pen 