Been discussing some words that sound the same but have similar spellings and multiple meanings on another thread so I thought I would start a new thread for them, here. As well as the usual their, there, they're, words that came up, were things like: draught and draft (cold draft, draught beer) plough and plow (plow through the snow, plough the field) A lot will be the difference between US English and UK English but can you come up with any more?
Sometimes I avoid using the words taught, tort and taut because they sound the same. Does that make me homophonic?
What is interesting with true homonyms, is that when reading them in a sentence, our brains know exactly how to pronounce them correctly for their place and meaning in the sentence. Take bow and bow. Jamie sprinted to the bow of the boat with his bow held aloft, ready for action. All he needed to do, was place the arrow on a moving target from a moving craft. He felt the movement of the bow under his feet, reached for an arrow and took aim. The bow's string brushed over his cheek as he held his breath and released it. "Well done, Jamie," his instructor told him as he joined him on deck. "Perfect shot, take a bow ..."
But there's a test I took, somewhere, for something... details are foggy, obviously... that showed that I was having to slow down or read over or something when there were homonyms. I'm a strong reader- it wasn't a test to show a deficiency, just to show that it's a common issue. I wish I could remember more about it...
In UK English, those three are pronounced the same. Tart, is pronounced with the arr sound. The others are all pronounced tort.
I can understand the need for slowing down when the words are spelled the same. If there's a spelling difference (tort/taught/taut) then it's obvious when reading, to see the meaning of the word.
They do but they all have different meanings: Tort - a legal term. (a tort is a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm) Taut - tight but not to the point of strangulation. (The rope connected to the boat was pulled taut) Taught - the past tense of teach. (I was taught how to sew at school)
If I google each of those words I get the option to listen to the word pronounced - in an American accent. So, I see how you pronounce each. For me I say tort, taught and taut exactly the same. No 'r'.
I was taught about torts when I did a small business diploma 15 years ago or so, when we briefly covered the 4 pillars of contract law.
I spent three years in law school, and it was always pronounced with the R sound. Canada - sometimes we follow American standards, sometimes we follow British standards. Every now and then we make up our own weird shit! But, having listened to the different pronunciations, I think it's actually the vowel sounds that are confusing things. The UK version drags the vowels out so long there's not really room to hear whether the R is there or not! Interesting.
I've never been called a vowel dragger before. Should I be wearing women's clothes to do that? But then tort is such an abrupt word, I hear no vowel dragging. And then taught and taut pronounced the same, so vowel dragging?
