Eccentric Collector: Balmy or Barmy ?

For some months now I have, whenever I encounter them, been collecting English homophones - that is, words that sound the same when spoken, but have quite different meanings. Two of the main categories are (A) those that sound the same but are spelled differently; and (B) those that sound the same and are spelled the same, but have quite different meanings and origins.

Examples of category (A) are balmy and barmy; farther and father; mustard and mustered; principal and principle. Category (B) incudes (for instance) bellows (either a verb meaning 'roars', or a noun meaning 'mechanism for forcing air'); flatter (either a verb meaning to 'praise', or an adjective meaning 'more level'); and swallow (either species of bird, or a verb meaning to 'ingest').

Are there many of these ambiguous words around, then ? I picked at random 5 consecutive pages of James Joyce's book Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and counted 50 of them. My own list (which is still slowly growing as I come across more examples) includes nearly 1,100 words in category A, and over 500 in category B - though I know that there are many, many more in this latter category.

The majority, in both categories, are monosyllables: though it is the longer ambiguous words that surprise one most - like cymbal and symbol, formally and formerly, and summery and summary in category A; and blubber, tender and quarrel in category B.

But as soon as you start categorising, you realise how important it is to decide how many categories there should be, and what are to be the criteria for inclusion and exclusion. In category A, the problem is partly one of pronunciation: in Yorkshire, luck and look can be virtual homophones, while in East London ear and here may sound the same, and in Scotland soot and suit. And how many of us, when we talk casually or quickly, distinguish between wine and whine, elicit and illicit, or morning and mourning ?

The reason that we don't get confused with the meanings of category A words is that when we read them, they are (by our own definition) spelled differently: while when we hear them, they will occur in a context that automatically defines them. If someone remarks to you "That man must be barmy", you won't interpret that last word as 'balmy', because it would hardly make sense.

Category B homophones are words of different meaning that are not only pronounced the same, but are also homograms (that is, spelled the same) . Whether you read or hear the words port (meaning a harbour) or port (the name of a wine) or port (meaning the left hand side of a boat) you have nothing but the context to tell you which of the three meanings is intended. But it is hard to imagine a verbal context in which any ambiguity* is possible.

* 'Ambiguity' would, strictly speaking, only be applicable here to a confusion of two words or phrases, for it is formed from the Latin word ambo, meaning 'both'; and you can't imagine 'both of three'. A real pedant would probably feel it necessary, in this situation, to replace the term 'ambiguity' with some smart-sounding phrase like 'semantic imprecision'.

This rambling essay could go on for many pages, for so far we have only dipped a tentative toe into the subject: there are several other categories besides A and B, I have decided; each one grouping different word qualities**. It is a matter for wonder, really, that we understand what we hear or read at all.

** Think of place-names that sound like English words (eg Barking, Crewe or Brighton); or foreign words that do the same (eg French cinq or faux; German bahn or nein; Latin pax or carta); or words that are spelled the same but sounded differently - non-homophonic homograms like polish, lead and number.

Almost certainly other barmy pedants will have categorised homophones and homograms and other types of potential semantic imprecision already. You can hardly ever come up with something new, can you ?

Eccentric Collector: Balmy or Barmy ?