Homophones are those confusing words that exist in every language. They are pronounced the same as each other but totally differ in meaning. Needless to say, this can make things complicated for somebody learning a second language. Homophones are often used in word plays and games because the confusion which they create can be both confusing and amusing! Want to know more about homophones in other languages? Take a look at these articles on homophones in English, Hindi, Russian, Korean and French.

Homophones in English

Homophones in Hindi

Homophones in Russian

Korean Homophones

Homophony mania

きしゃのきしゃがきしゃできしゃした。（貴社の記者が汽車で帰社した。）

からも分かるように日本語には膨大な数の同音異義語があります。平仮名で「こうせい」と書かれても構成なのか厚生なのか攻勢なのか抗生なのか判断がつきません。漢字にはそれぞれ意味があるので漢字で書けば分かるのですが、１つの発音に対して何通りも書き方があるので文脈に合わせて漢字を選択することが必要になります。まぎらわしいものだと、「おしょくじけん」は汚職事件、お食事。「かえる」は蛙、帰る。と全く違った意味になってしまうので気をつけないと文章がおもしろいことになってしまいます。

これは多くの日本語学習者にとって難しい部分であると同時に日本人にとってもしばしば問題になります。漢字運用能力をテストするために学校の入試はもちろん、就職試験にも漢字のテストが含まれています。調べてみたら日本語において最も同音異義語が多い言葉は「こうしょう」だそうです。なぜ同音異義語がこんなに多くなってしまうのかというと発音の種類が少ないからです。

この同音異義語を使ってさまざまな語呂合わせや言葉遊び を作ったり、言葉を数字にしたりすることができます。（名古屋→７５８、福井→２９１など）なぜ４が日本での不吉な数字になっているかというと、「死」と同じ発音だからです。なぜお賽銭に「５円」玉が良く使われるかというと「ご縁」があるようにという願いが込められているからです。

また英語のright とlightは両方とも日本語では「ライト」と表されます。発音の種類が少ないために日本語にはない発音を表しきれなくて１つの音で複数の音を兼ねるしかないのです。こうして同音異義語はどんどん増えていきます・・・正しく漢字を選択するためには、大変ですが１つ１つ覚えることが近道になります。同音異義語のクイズ もあるのでぜひ挑戦してみてください！

Kisha no kisha ga kisha de kisha shita.

This sentence is correct and means a reporter in your company came back to the company by train. As you can see, there are huge numbers of homophones in Japanese. For example, “こうせい(kousei)” is one of the words which has lots of homophones. The words below are all pronounced as kousei, but differ in meaning.

構成(composition), 厚生(public welfare), 攻勢(thrust), 抗生(antibiotic) , and lot more.

If it’s in Hiragana, it’s impossible to judge the meaning without looking at the context it’s used in. Selecting correct kanji is confusing, but it’s necessary to make yourself understood correctly. Otherwise sentences don’t make any sense...here are some examples explaining why.

Kaeru can be 帰る(go home) or 蛙(frog)

Oshokujiken can be 汚職事件(corruption scandal) or お食事券(a meal voucher)

Homophones are tricky for native speakers, as well as Japanese learners. That’s why a Kanji test is included in the entrance exams for university and even for jobs. According to Wikipedia, it is „こうしょう(koushou)“ that has the largest numbers of homophones in Japanese. It can be written in over 20 different kanji. Why are there so many homophones? The reason is because Japanese pronunciation is too simple for the enormous quantity of vocabulary.

Out of these homophones, many jokes are made that play on words linking numbers and words. i.e. 7 (na), 5 (go), 8 (ya)…758 (Nagoya)!. The reason why number 4 is regarded as an unlucky number is it has the same pronunciation as “death”. Likewise, 5-yen coin is widely used to make an offering at shrines, as both 5-yen and “ご縁goen (having a good chance)” are pronounced in the same way. People wish to have good luck by throwing a 5-yen coin.

Additionally, both of the English words “right” and “light” are written as „ライト“. Sometimes one Japanese word has to double with 2 different English words. It happens quite often when trying to write foreign words in Japanese…in this way, Japanese homophones are increasing every moment. Catch up with them by trying this quiz !

Homophones are those tricky words that are pronounced the same as one another but differ in spelling or meaning. They can cause a lot of comprehension problems when people choose the wrong word. These errors can also be funny as long as you’re not the one making them! It’s very easy to make such errors because lots of English words sound or look alike. It’s not just learners of English who make mistakes when it comes to homophones; native speakers are not immune to the confusion surrounding them either.

These similar sounding words add depth to a language but they can also be the cause of great frustration. Spell check can’t even be relied upon where these troublesome homophones are concerned. There is no shortage of double or two-word homophone pairs in the English language. Triple homophones, however, are less common. Some common homophones in English include:

hour/our, air/heir, aisle/ isle, bee/ be, buy/ by, cereal/ serial, flour/ flower, two/to/too, write/right/rite…….and the list goes on.

English homophones often provide the foundation of simple jokes as they allow a play on words which can be amusing. Below is an example of a joke where the punch line is based on the use of a homophone:
Seven days without laughter makes one weak.

In this example the word weak is used as a pun. Seven days of course add up to a week, but the double meaning used here creates the punch line.

So the question still remains as to how to overcome problems where homophones are concerned? Well the problem is there’s no simple answer. The best way is to read as much as possible in order to familiarize yourself with the words in context. Practice makes perfect as they say. Try out these homophone quizzes for more help.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to homophones is to enjoy their complexity, after all language learning would be dull if everything was easy.

हिंदी में हम अधिकतर जैसा बोलते हैं वैसे ही लिखते हैं. कभी कभी जब उच्चारण में अंतर हो, या कोई गलती हो जाए तब ही हम हिंदी में समध्वनिक शब्दों का निर्माण होता है. इस लिए हिंदी में समध्वनिक शब्द विरल है. इसका मतलब यह नहीं की ऐसे शब्द हिंदी में है ही नहीं. मैं जो उदाहरण यहाँ प्रस्तुत करने वाली हूँ, ये लिखने में थोडे से अलग है, लेकिन अगर इन्के उच्चारण में थोडी सी भी गलती हो ते मुसीबत हो सकती है.

जैसे की ‘बांस‘ और ‘बास‘. एक छोटी सी बिंदु, देखिए, कितना बड़ा अंतर बना सकता है. इसी तरह, ‘गदा‘ और ‘गधा‘ ये भी काफी मिलते जुलते हैं. अगर ‘द‘ और ‘ध‘ में अंतर न करें तो दोनो ही एक जैसे सुनाई देंगे.

अंतर्राष्ट्रीय महमान जब हिंदी सीखतें हैं, तो उन्हे इन शब्दों से बडी परेशानी होती है, जैसे ‘और‘ , ‘ओर‘.‘प्रवाह‘ और ‘पर्वाह‘ की भी कुछ ऐसी ही कानी है. वे व्यक्ति जो उच्च हिंदी के प्रेमी हैं, उन्हे पता होगा, की ‘चतुर‘,‘चतुर्‘ में क्या अंतर है. लेकिन औरों के लिए ये देने एक ही शब्द हैं.
शब्द लिखने में गलती करें तो भी मुसीबत होती है. जैसे, ‘प्रमाण‘ और ‘प्रणाम‘,‘परिणाम‘ और ‘परिमाण‘. लेकिन सबसे मज़ेदार गलतिया इन शब्दों के बीच होती है – ‘आचार‘ और ‘अचार‘.

In Hindi we speak almost the same way as we write. The rare occurrences of a homophone that we see are either due to the local pronunciation of the word or simply the slip of tongue. Thus, homophones are not as frequent in Hindi as they may be in some other languages. But that does not mean that they don’t exist. The examples that I will give you here do not have the exact spelling and if pronounced correctly do sound difference. But in fast speech there is the possibility of misunderstanding. Some words like बास(odour) or बांस(bamboo) only have a tiny dot to distinguish the difference. In the case of the second word, if one were unable to bring out the nasal intonation, both words would sound exactly the same. Similarly, गदा(mace/club) and गधा(donkey) can also be confused if the ‘h’ sound in the second word is not properly pronounced. पता(address) and पत्ता(leaf) are also pretty similar.

For a foreigner who is attempting to speak Hindi words like प्रवाह(flow) and पर्वाह(care), and और(and) and ओर(towards) can be a problem. Also, for those who speak a higher level of Hindi words such as चतुर(clever) and चतुर्(fourth) are often mistaken for one another.

Mixing up the letters can also make entertaining errors. For example; प्रणाम(salute) and प्रमाण(proof), and also, परिणाम(consequence) and परिमाण(extent). The funniest of all homophones that can have hilarious consequences is, आचार(behavior) and अचार(pickle).

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two and too. Homophones are often used to create puns and to deceive the reader or to suggest multiple meanings.

Try to picture the following situations…

She enjoyed the latest cereal of the X Files on television.
He liked to eat a bowl of serial every morning.
Cinderella is a famous fairy tail.
A dog will wag its tale when it's happy.
The son is shining.
Her sun was very clever.

Homophones quiz

Here are some examples of homophones in Russian: порог — порок — парок, луг — лук, плод — плот, туш — тушь, падёж — падёшь, бал — балл, косный — костный, предать — придать, эмиттировать — имитировать.
The Russian language has two main sources of homophones: the phenomenon of stunning consonants at the end of words and before another consonant, and the reduction of vowels in unstressed positions.
Often the infinitive form and 3rd person of a verb are equally pronounced: (надо) решиться — (он) решится, (хочу) строиться — (дом) строится, (металл может) гнуться — (деревья) гнутся, (должен) вернуться — (они) вернутся.

There are also homophones among the phrases: в месте — вместе, во все — вовсе, из мяты — измяты, из люка — и злюка, не мой — немой.

Source: Wikipedia

Омофо́ны, фонетическая двусмысленность, фонетические омонимы (др.-греч. ὁμόφωνος «созвучный, согласный») — слова, которые звучат одинаково, но пишутся по-разному и имеют разное значение.
Примеры в русском языке: порог — порок — парок, луг — лук, плод — плот, туш — тушь, падёж — падёшь, бал — балл, косный — костный, предать — придать, эмиттировать — имитировать.
В литературе омофоны используются для создания так называемой игры слов. В быту омофоны становятся «бичом неграмотности».

Простой пример – постарайтесь представить себе или даже зарисовать следующие ситуации…

1. Мальчик полоскал собачку.
2. Огромные волы швыряли нашу лодку из стороны в сторону.
3. Все уже спустились с горы, а Витя всё слизал.
4. Мама отварила дверь.
5. Бежит через долы, луга и лиса.
За беленьким зайцем рыжуха-леса.

Больше тестов

В русском языке есть два основных источника омофонии: явление оглушения согласных в конце слов и перед другим согласным звуком и редукция гласных в безударной позиции.

Также, часто одинаково произносятся инфинитив и форма 3-го лица одного глагола (на письме различающиеся наличием или отсутствием буквы «ь»: (надо) решиться — (он) решится, (хочу) строиться — (дом) строится, (металл может) гнуться — (деревья) гнутся, (должен) вернуться — (они) вернутся.
К омофонии относят также случаи фонетического совпадения слова и словосочетания или двух словосочетаний. Используемые буквы могут полностью совпадать и различие в написании заключается только в расстановке пробелов: в месте — вместе, во все — вовсе, из мяты — измяты, из люка — и злюка, не мой — немой.

Source: Wikipedia

한국에서 누군가 길을 가다가“저기 저 다리 좀 봐!“ 라고 하면 상황을 모르는 사람은 헷갈리기 일쑤이다. 강 위의 다리를 말하는 건지, 지나가는 예쁜 여자의 다리를 말하는 건지 알 수 없기 때문이다. 이처럼 단어의 발음은 같되, 뜻이 다른 단어들을 동음이의어라고 한다. 다른 언어와 마찬가지로, 한국어에도 다양한 동음이의어가 있다.

우선, 가장 흔한 동음이의어의 예는“배“ 이다. 배는 3가지의 뜻이 있는데, 하나는 바다와 강에 떠다니는 배이고, 또 하나는 우리 신체의 일부분인 배이고, 나머지 하나는 과일의 한 종류인 배이다. 그래서 문맥 없이“저 배는 참 예쁘구나!“ 라고 하면, 어떤 의미의“배“를 뜻하는지 알 수가 없다. 하지만, 앞 뒤의 문장이 문맥을 만들어 주면, 큰 어려움 없이 의미를 이해할 수 있다. 예를 들어, “잔잔한 한강 위에 평온히 떠다니는 배를 바라본다“ 라는 문장에 쓰인“배“는 선박의 뜻임을 알 수 있고, “상한 음식을 먹었더니 배가 아파“ 라는 문장에 쓰인“배“는 신체기관인 것을 알 수 있다. 마찬가지로, “이 배는 참 맛있구나!“ 에 쓰인“배“는 과일임을 알 수 있다.

또 하나 재미있는 한국어 동음이의어의 예는“들다“ 라는 동사이다. 이 동사는 대개 3가지의 뜻으로 쓰인다. “이 문으로 들어가세요“ 에서는“안으로 들어가다“의 의미이고, “가방을 들어주세요“ 에서는“물건 등을 들다“의 의미이며, “이 칼은 잘 들어“ 에서는“사물이 원활히 작동한다“는 의미이다. 영어에서 take 의 단어가 여러 의미를 가지고 있듯이, 한국어에서는“들다“ 라는 단어가 여러 의미를 가진다.

더 많은 한국어의 동음이의어의 예로는, “풀“ 이 있다. 종이 등을 붙일 때 사용 하는 풀과, 잔디밭에 심어져 있는 풀이 같은 철자와 발음을 가진다. “김“도 동음이의어의 하나이다. “농부가 김을 매고 있다“, “이 김은 완도 앞바다에서 난거야“, “창문에 김이 서리었네!“ 에서 쓰인 김은 각자 다른 의미를 지니고 있다. “굴“도, 바다에서 나는 음식과, 동굴을 의미하는 말로 두 가지의 뜻을 지닌다.

외국어의 동음이의어는 늘 어렵듯이, 한국어의 동음이의어도 외국인에게는 헷갈릴 수 있지만, 상황과 문맥에 맞춰 동음이의어의 뜻을 추측하는 것도 흥미로운 공부가 될 것이다. 또한, 동음이의어를 이해한다면, 한국인과의 의사소통에서 단어의 뜻을 헷갈리는 일을 방지할 수 있을 것이다.

If you are walking down a street in Korea, and you are told to “Look at that Dali,” you would be easily confused as to what you’re supposed to look at. It is because “Dali” can mean either a bridge or the legs of a beautiful woman. Likewise, homophones are words that have the same pronunciation but very different meanings. Just like any other language, Korean also has lots of homophones.

First of all, the most common example of a Korean homophone is “Bae.” “Bae” has three different meanings: a ship floating on the sea, the stomach, a pear (the fruit). Thus, if you said “that Bae is pretty!”out of context, then your friend would not understand what you meant. However, in certain contexts or situations, you can easily understand the intended meaning. For instance, in the following sentence, “I am looking at the Bae on calm Han-river,” you can see that Bae used here means a ship. The sentence, “after having a bad egg, I got a Bae-ache”, used Bae as stomach. “This Bae is really delicious!” gives us a sense that Bae used here is referring to a pear.

Another interesting example of a Korean homophone is the verb “Deul-da.” This verb usually has three different meanings. “E-Moon-eu-lo-Deul-eo-ga-se-yo” uses this verb as “to enter.” However, “ga-bang-eul-Deul-eo-joo-se-yo” uses it as “to pick up stuff.” Lastly, in the following sentence, “e-kal-eun-jal-Deul-eo-yo”, “deul-da” means “to work.” “Deul-da” in Korean can have numerous meanings just like the verb “to take” in English does.

Another example of a Korean homophone, is the word“pool.” “Pool” can be either a glue to attach papers or grass on land. “Kim” is also a homophone. “A farmer is kim-me-go-it-da” means a farmer is plowing. “This kim is from that sea” means this seaweed is from that sea. “The window is full of kim” means the window is full of steam.

Though Korean homophones, like homophones from any language, can be confusing to foreigners, they can be understood with reference to context and situation. Also, understanding homophones would prevent you from not understanding the exact meaning of a word when you talk to Koreans.