One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
- ‘You may have noticed that homonymy and polysemy are very similar.’
- ‘Rather, I'm interested in homonymy - in particular, the word quire.’
- ‘Ear (of corn) and ear (the organ) are examples of homonymy, because etymologically the former derives from Old English éar while the latter derives from Old English éare.’
- ‘Some ambiguities are merely ‘chance homonymies’ - as with the Greek word ‘kleis’ which means both ‘bolt’ and ‘collar-bone’.’
- ‘But, beyond that, homonymy seems to have been, even for Plato, no more than a source of ambiguity for wordplay.’
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