The word homonym literally means the same name, since the prefix homo means the same and onoma indicates a name. In this way, the homonymous adjective is used in reference to the name that two things or two people share. When this happens, the phenomenon of homonymy occurs.
If two people have the same name, they are said to be namesakes and, therefore, homonym and namesake are synonymous terms. When two entities share the same name, they are said to be homonyms, as is the case with the geographical name in some countries (for example, Mexico is the name of the capital of Mexico as a country).
Types of homonymy
Homonymy can be of several types: 1) two homograph words, that is, those that are pronounced and written the same, as happens with the word on (it can be a preposition or a letter) or and 2) two homophone words, that is, , those that sound the same but are written in a different way (for example, burn and hug, grill and random, etc.).
Difference between homonymy and polysemy and between homonymy and paronymy
The homonymous words are often confused with the polysemic words. To clarify the difference, it must be remembered that polysemy occurs when a word has several meanings, while homonymy occurs when two words have the same form despite the fact that their etymological origin is very different.
Two words are paronyms when they present a certain similarity in their writing (for example, attitude and aptitude, affection and affection, etc.). Instead, two words are homonyms when they are spelled the same or pronounced the same or very similar.
Confusions and legal problems caused by homonymy
When two words are homonymous, some confusion sometimes occurs when interpreting the information (for example, Alicante is a Spanish city and also a snake or the word alpaca, which can refer to a white metal or an animal).
With some frequency in the media there is talk of cases of homonymy, that is, those circumstances in which there is a legal problem when two people are confused because they both have the same full name.
If this type of confusion occurs between a criminal and an ordinary citizen, the consequences can be very serious (there have been cases in which an innocent person has ended up in prison due to homonymy).
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