Martin, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of. Oxford .... Tower. I t au-e r (building). Towers. Shower. 'shail-ar (rain). Showers. 'to-a. (hauler).
Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation 1981, Vol. 13 (3), 299·307
METHODS & DESIGNS Heteronyms and polyphones: Categories of words with multiple phonemic representations MARYANNE MARTIN
University ofOxford, OxjordOXI3UD, England GREGORY V. JONES
University ofBristol, BristolBS8 IHH, England
and DOUGLAS L. NELSON and LOUISE NELSON
University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
Heteronyms are words that have two different possible pronunciations that are associated with two (or more) different meanings. They can be used to investigate psychological mechanisms in reading and other cognitive processes. A corpus of English heteronyms has been collected and is tabulated here. In addition, a corpus of English polyphones is tabulated. These are words with different pronunciations that are not associated with different meanings. In recent years, corpora of a variety of types of word with special properties have been reported, for example, anagrams (Deloche, Debili, & Andreewsky, 1980), homographs (Cramer, 1970; Perfetti, Lindsey, & Garson, Note 1), and palindromes and heteropalindromes (Jones, 1980a, 1980b). The present article reports corpora of two types of word that have more than one phonemic representation (in standard pronunciation). For heteronyms, the different phonemic representations are associated with different meanings; for polyphones, they are associated with the same meaning. HETERONYMS An example of a common heteronym is "row," which, when pronounced /r d o], denotes either a line or the use of an oar, but, when pronounced /rav/, denotes an argument. It is suggested here that two types of heteronyms may usefully be distinguished: "strong" and "weak." Strong heteronyms are words such as "row," whose different phonemic representations are associated with unrelated meanings. Weak heteronyms are words whose different phonemic representations are associated with meanings that, although different, are not unrelated. Rather, the different meanings derive from the same
This work was supported by a grant to M. Martin from the British Medical Research Council and was assisted by Sara Dickson. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Maryanne Martin, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OXl 3UD, England.
Copyright 1981 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
lexical entry (e.g., "read" is pronounced /ri:dl and Ired/ in the present and past tenses, respectively). The present corpus has been compiled in the course of preparation for an experiment investigating the influence of syntactic and semantic context on word recognition (cf. Martin, 1977). The use of heteronyms in a vocal response task allows assessment of the influence of such context. Choice of pronunciation should vary between complete accuracy and a random base level, depending on the extent to which top-down processing is occurring. Similarly, Andreewsky, Kossanyi, and Deloche (1978) investigated reading using French heteronyms such as "fils," which means "son" or "sons" when pronounced /fis/ but "threads" when pronounced / fIl/. Andreewsky, Deloche, and Kossanyi (1980) discuss further the processing of heteronyms, but they give only two English examples, "lead" and "read." Heteronyms have also recently been used by Warren, Warren, Green, and Bresnick (1978) to investigate the dynamics of the encoding process. Tables 1 and 2 show lists of strong and weak heteronyms, respectively. The arrangement is alphabetic within each table. Also shown for each word are its two different pronunciations. For ease of printing, pronunciation is as indicated in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (1979), rather than given in international phonetic symbols. This dictionary was also referred to in deciding eligibility for inclusion, for example, on orthographic questions. Thus, "resume" was included, since the meaning often indicated by resume is also listed without accents, but "pate" was not, since the meaning indicated by pate is not listed without accents. It may be
299
0005·7878/81/030299-09$01.15/0
300
MARTIN, JONES, NELSON, AND NELSON
noted also that what may be termed "stress heteronyms" have not been included. These words have different meanings associated with different possible patterns of stress in their pronunciation, but not with differences in phonemic representation. As examples, "august" and "incense" denote a month and perfume, respectively, when stressed on the first syllable but denote dignity and anger, respectively, when stressed on the second syllable. The contents of Tables I and 2 were generated primarily by repeated mental scanning over a lengthy period. It is hoped that the list of strong heteronyms in particular is approximately comprehensive. In all, 54
strong and 62 weak heteronyms (and their derivatives) are listed in the tables.
POLYPHONES An example of a polyphone, a word with two or more standard pronunciations that map onto the same meaning, is "either," which may be pronounced either j'aia 3 / or j'i:a 3 / . Table 3 shows a corpus of such words, obtained by examination of the entries in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1970), together with their listed pronunciations.
Table 1 Strong Heteronyms Pronunciations and Meanings
Word
Ate
Derivatives
at (food)
c:rave
'ac-e (folly) Bass
Pronunciations and Meanings
Word
gray (tomb)
Buffet
bas (fish)
'hin-dar (impede)
Hinder
'hin-dar (behind)
bau (gesture)
Bowed, Bowing,
bO (weapon)
Bows
I baf-ar (strike)
Buffets
Inter
ka-'lekt (gather)
Invalid
'in-va-Iad (patient) in-'val-ad (erroneous)
Collects
Job
jab (work)
Ikan-jar {mag i c )
Conjured, Conjures,
Lead
led (advance)
kan-' jliac (entreat)
Conjuring
I kal-ikt (prayer) Conjure
I int-a (among) in-Itar (bury)
bi>-Ifa (meal) Collect
job (Bible)
Denier
Leadin~,
Deniers
"l o-e r (beneath)
Lowered, Lowering,
'lau-ar (frown)
Lowers
dan-'ya (measure)
Desert
Idez-art (place)
Deserts
I
Mow
ma
mi-' nyiit (small )
dii (act) do (music)
Does
daz (acts)
Natal
dav (p i aeon )
I
en-trans (door)
Nice
jil (measure)
gil (fish)
'nat-al (birth)
nis (pleasant) nes (France)
Entrances
Pasty
io-' trans (delight) Gill
Mows
n a- I tOal (Africa)
dov (plunged)
Entrance
(cut)
mail (stack)
doz (animals) Dove
min-at (time
Minute
di- 'zar t (reward) Do
'pas-te (pie) 'pa-ste (pale)
Gills
Leads
led (metal)
Lower di-'ni-ar (opponent)
Graves
gray (accent)
bas (music) Bow
Derivatives
Pension
\ pen-chan (payment)
'p'a"
s-yof'l (hotel)
Pensions
HETERONYMS AND POLYPHONES
301
Table 1 Continued Pronunciations and Meanings
Word Placer
' pta-sar (arran~er) , plas-ar
Polish
Derivatives
Slou~h
(minin~)
Sow
I pal-ish (smooth)
Iprez-ant (~ift)
'pat-arc (golf)
Swinger
Presents
Ira-van ( bird)
Supply
Putters
Tang
Ravens
ri-1zum (return)
Row
Tarry
!{esumes
r au (quarrel)
Hawed, Rower,
ro (boat)
Rowers, Rowing,
su- ar
I so-ar
Shower
(drain)
Ton
I
si~
-ar (songster)
t i ar (drop)
tiar (layer)
Tears
Tiers
(fastener)
tan (weight)
t au-e r
Vice
VlS
Tons
(building)
Towers
(corruption)
lvi-se (succeeding) Wind
sked (traveled)
'sla-var (person)
(sticky)
I
Singers
skid (threw)
Slaver
ltar-e
'to-a. (hauler)
'sin- jar (burner) Skied
(delay)
Tower
Showers
'sho-ar (exhibitor)
Singer
'tar-e
to n (fashion)
Sewers
(stitcher)
'shail-ar (rain)
Ita~--e-ar (tastier)
tar (rip)
sa-Ilam-ez (sausa~es)
I
ta3 (taste)
ItT-ar
sal-a-mas (Greece)
Sewer
Tear
Tier
Rows Salamis
p-l'e (fluently)
tan- 1 j i r (Morocco)
rez-a -rna (summary)
I
sa-'pli (provide)
rekt', t-e
dres, ri dres'
Release
tiv, op'
ar a tiv
pe at
re'
laps',
laps
re res,
res'
ri
Repress
re
Research
ri s~rch1.
pres'. ri pres'
re I
snrch
0'
Opposite
op' a zit, op' a sit
Retail
re
Oran,;€
~rl i n j , or' inj
Retina
ret' a na, ret' na
Outlet
out'
let,
0'
ri
Opiate
pe it,
our' u
Reverend
t-ev' ar and, rev' rand
Ia I
Robust
ro bust 1, rot
Rodeo
Parlay
p~rl
Parol
pc rol. par'
ol
Participle
par' ti sip'
;)1, par
Paste 1
pa stell , pas'
Pecan
pi k~n , pe
par
sa pal
ti
tel
k an
I
tal, r e tal'
l
Revenue
t
Padre
Ie,
f
Relay
i v, ok' Cav
l
Redress
ret rei
Relapse
l.a a i t
obi
Octave
t
l
Hep.,ime
Iiae ,
Obi la
fat'
ya
ne' eat
Negate
Obligate
mod'
bust
Romance
ro mans', ro' mans
Roof
roof. roof
Root
Penalize
Rotate til. par sen' til
Pet-cent i, le
pdr sed
Pervert
pur v~rt'. p~r' va r t
Phonetics
fa net'
i k s , fo net'
i ks
Pianist
sta~'
ea
-I
stal
Route
root, rout
Rubble
rub
Schedule
skej'
1
-
oi , roo
001,
f
b el.
skej100 131
Scrouge
skt-ou j , skroo j
Segregate
seg' ra gat , seg ta g i t
Servile
s~r' vi l , s~rl viI
Several
sev ' sr
Pistachio
pi
Placate
pIa' kat, pl ak ' at
I'os t u l a t e
pas
Precedence
pr as'
Prelude
pre I load, pra' lood
Slippery
slip' a r e , slip'
Pretense
pr i tens'. pre tens
Snook
snook, sno~k
I'r iroar y
prT' mer e, prT
Sophisticate
sa fis
• pi
, po s
I
~a l
i da1s, pri sed
I
at
dnS
rna re l
1, sev l ral
Slavery
l
t a kit,
,
re
sa fis l
Profane
pro fan', pro fan
Protest
pro' test, pra test'
Sovereign
sov ' r i n , sov' ar in
Protocol
pro 1 ta k~l. pro' to kal
Species
spe
Ouadt-upl e t
kwo drup'
Sporadic
spa r ad'
lit, kvo drool plit
Sour
sour, sou
l
~ez.
ta kat
ar
spe
l
sez
ik, spa rad'
ik
305
306
MARTIN, JONES, NELSON, AND NELSON Table 3 Continued Pronunciations
Word Status
sia'
Stereo
ster'
t
as ,
stat
eo ,
o
Word Tryst
s
eo
ster'
Stirrup
stCr' op, sti.r' e p
Stupid
stool pi.d , styool
Suffice
sa fis', So fiz'
pid
Pronunciations trist, trist
Tube
toob, tyOOb
Tulip
Too'
lip, tyoo' lip
Tunic
too'
l nik, Cyoc nik
Turbine
t~r' bin, t~rl bin
So~ jest', sa jest l
Turquoise
t~rl koi z ,
Suite
swet, soot
Tutor
too
Sunday
sun'
Ugh
oo~. u~, O'o~
Unison
yoo' ni san, YOO' ni zan
Unnatural
un na®'
Update
up dat', up'
Upland
up'
Uplift
up lift' , up'
Upright
up: rit
de, sun' di'
Superb Superior
Surplus Surrogate
sGr l plus, stir pl as A
s~r' a
,
gat , sur a git
Survey Suspect
Syndrome Syringe
sa spekt.' , sus' pekt sin l dram, sin
Uproot
dra m
53 rinj', sir' inj
Syrup
sir' ap, s~rl ap
Taboo
ta boo', ta bOO'
Tabulate
tab'
Tactile
tak' til, tak'
lat', tab'
)a
lit
)a
til
Tattoo
ta tool, ta too'
Taunt
tont, tant "
Tedious
tel
"
de
as, tel jas
Temperament
tern'
POT
Temperate
tern'
par it, tern' prit
Temperature
tern'
par a char, tern'
amant, tern' pra ment
The Together
to't, geth'
Tomato
ta
mal
pro char
,
ar, ta geth
to, ta
mal
to
dat
_
J
up rit' V
,
I
up set , up
Usual
yoo' ~oo ci , yoo' zfrce'l,
Usurp
A I , yoo - " zurp " yoo surp
Vacation
va k"ii' ®an, Va ka' ®an
Vaccine
yak sen
Vacuum
yak' yoo am, yak'
Valet
val' it, val'
Vanilla
va nil'
l J
set
yak sm'
a i3
Vegetable
ve j ' ta bal, ve j' i ta 001
Versatile
v{;r l sa til, vtir l sa tIl
Version vet' a'r an, vel
Virile Volume
tran
aI, vir' 11 vol'
"I
yoom, vol' yam
,. ,
Transfer
Water
wa'tar,wot'
Translate
trans la~
, tranz' lat
Whale
Traveler
Trav' alar, t rav ' Lar
Wheat
nut. wol
nat
a-
While
hwil, wil
cres' pas. tres I pas
White
hwit, wIt
Trial
tri' al, tril
Woozy
WOOl
ze,
Tribunal
tri byood aI, tri byoori a1
Yesterday
yert
tat: de, yes'
Trough
t rof , trot!)
Yolk
yak, yolk
Trousseau
troa l so, troo
Yourself
yo~r self' ,
SOl
yoom
a, ve nell
trans fGr l, trans' far
Trespass
I
up root , up root
wol
ar , tre I mar
lift
I
Walnut
trern
r al
land, up' land
tran sakr , tran zak~
Tremor
tar
ar al , un na@1
Transact
l
kwoiz
tar, tyOD
Upset
Veteran or
tGr' _I
_t
w~ozl
yOI'
e tar d"ii'
self I
HETERONYMS AND POLYPHONES REFERENCE NOTE 1. Perfetti, G. A., Lindsey, R., & Garson, B. Association and uncertainty: Norms ofassociation to ambiguous words. Pittsburgh, Penn: University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center, 1971. REFERENCES ANDREEWSKY, E., DELOCHE, G., & KOSSANYI, P. Analogies between speed-reading and deep dyslexia: Towards a procedural understanding of reading. In M. Coltheart, K. Patterson, & J. C. Marshall (Eds.), Deep dyslexia. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980. ANDREEWSKY, E., KOSSANYI, P., & DELOCHE, G. Traitment cognitif des traits semantiques dans des conditions limites de lecture. In Psychologie & education. Toulouse: Universite du Mirail, 1978. CRAMER, P. A study of homographs. In L. Postman & G. Keppel (Eds.), Norms of word association. New York: Academic Press, 1970. OELOCHE, G., DEBILI, F., & ANDREEWSKY, E. Order information
307
redundancy of verbal codes in French and English: Neurolinguistic implications. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1980,19, S2S-S30. JONES, G. V. English palindromes: A distributional model. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 1980, 11, 489-491. (a) JONES, G. V. Heteropalindromes. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 1980, 11,393-394. (b) MARTIN, M. Reading while listening: A linear model of selective attention. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1977, 16, 4S3-463. Random House Dictionary of the Eng/ish Language. New York: Random House, 1970. WARREN, R. E .. WARREN. N. T.. GREEN. J. P.. & BRESNICK, J. H. Multiple semantic encoding of homophones and homographs in contexts biasing dominant or subordinate meanings. Memory & Cognition, 1978, 6, 364-371. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass: Merriam, 1979.
(Accepted for publication June 12, 1981.)
