Homonyms, Homophones & Homographs - Conundrums or Brain Teasers?

What do people experience when first learning the English language? I can't speak first hand as it's my mother tongue, unless goo, goo, gah can be counted, but I have worked with adult migrants who have expressed their amazement and frustration at the convolutions of the language. This usually results in them writhing with writer's cramp when attempting some simple tasks.

Let's take a look at the heading "What Is A Thong?" and how this is viewed by different English speaking natives, let alone migrants. I'm from Australia and a thong is a very basic sandal. The sole is made from rubber that is basically the shape of a foot. There are two rubber straps that originate between the big and second toe and insert on either side of the foot near the instep. Okay, so far so good, but when in the USA and Canada the humble thong (which we use for throwing contests on Australia Day) becomes a piece of underwear. Not quite in the same realm as the Bombay Bloomers that Great Gran used to wear, but they are supposed to serve the same purpose. How do migrants grasp the subtle nuances of the English dialects without being placed in a straight jacket (or should that be a 'strait' jacket, an ESL student might ask)? The thong homonym can get you into trouble when writing e.g. Wearing a thong for the first time can cause chafing. A simple enough statement until the questions are asked - Where was the chaffing? Were you able to wear shoes? Could you sit down? Did you use a salve between your toes to ease the discomfort? Chaos reigns supreme! How do we differentiate between the two meanings in Australia? We don't! The underwear thong is a G-string so our migrants know not to toss their G-strings on Australia Day. So how do we accommodate the Flip Flop, Plugger and Jandals into the thong discussion? We don't, they're not homonyms, only other versions within a country's dialect.

Across the planet their is a universal topic - no not thongs - the weather, or whether, or wether. In conversation there may not be a misunderstanding between these homophones, unless of course the listener has misunderstood the context. There have been many skits based on simple misunderstandings of a word. The masters of this form of humour were Bud Abbott and Lou Costello who are well known for their 'Who's On First? skit. (Not showing my age just watched a lot of movies with my parents.) A simple misunderstanding or word cue can make for an entertaining or very frustrating conversation. I'll give you an example - The weather's been blowing lately. or The wethers been blowing lately. The first example is very straight forward, meaning it's been very windy. My second example, with friendly banter to my New Zealand neighbours and their sheep population, means the Land of the Great White Cloud is living up to its methane presence.

When teaching there have been many a quizzical expression, from both children and adults, when they come across homographs in reading material. Strictly speaking a homograph is one of a group of words that is spelt the same, pronounced the same but has different meanings. Yes, spot on, a homograph is a homonym! Oh how the English language twists and turns on itself. Context is the key to this enigma. When covering homonyms, homographs and homophones in a classroom, have students consider the context and this strategy will help with their understanding and comprehension.

I don't know if this has made the conundrum of homonyms, homographs and homophones any clearer, but maybe it has shed light on the nuances of English dialects. Just a word of warning if you're going to wear thongs at the beach, use an SPF of 30+, nothing worse than being sunburnt on those sensitive areas - toes and cheeks.