homophone; homonym
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Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
homophone; word with identical pronunciation but different meaning
In Chinese linguistics, this term refers to words that share the exact same pronunciation (including tone) but have different meanings and usually different characters. For example, 反攻 (counterattack) and 返工 (redo work) are both pronounced fǎngōng.
“
Fǎn反
gōng攻
”
hé和
“
fǎn返
gōng工
”
shì是
yī一
duì对
diǎn典
xíng型
de的
tóng同
yīn音
cí词
。
"Counterattack" and "redo work" are a typical pair of homophones.
Hàn汉
yǔ语
zhōng中
yǒu有
xǔ许
duō多
tóng同
yīn音
cí词
，
bǐ比
rú如
“
shù树
mù木
”
hé和
“
shù数
mù目
”
。
There are many homophones in Chinese, such as "trees" and "number/amount".
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Tóng同
yīn音
cí词
zài在
kǒu口
yǔ语
jiāo交
liú流
zhōng中
yǒu有
shí时
huì会
zào造
chéng成
wù误
jiě解
。
Homophones can sometimes cause misunderstandings in spoken communication.
“
Qī期
zhōng中
”
hé和
“
qī期
zhōng终
”
yě也
shì是
cháng常
jiàn见
de的
tóng同
yīn音
cí词
。
"Midterm" and "final" are also common homophones.