CHAPTER 2
Literature Review
The related documents and papers were reviewed in this chapter in 3 main topics as follows.
2.1 Description of homophone
2.2 Type of homophone
2.3 Related Research
2.1 Description of homophone
A homophone can be defined as a word that when pronounced seems similar to another word but has a different spelling and meaning such as bear and bare are similar in pronunciation but are different in spelling as well as in meaning. Sometimes the words may have the same spelling such as rose and the past tense of rise, but mostly they are spelt differently such as carrot, caret and carat. In literature, homophones are used extensively in poetry and prose to make rhythmic effects and to put emphasis on something. They are also used to create a multiplicity of meanings in piece.
Homophones are several words that have the same sound but differ in spelling. Many homophones have the same sound. They have different meaning. Teaching homophones words can help students to write them correctly, although, homophones can be produced correctly in speaking. If students learn homophones can improve their second language.
Homophones are words that sound similar but are spelled differently and have different meanings. For example, there/their/they're. "There" is used primarily as a means of direction. For example: "The car is parked over there." "Their" is used to show ownership of another party. For example: "John went over to their house for dinner." "They're" is a contraction combining "they" and "are" to show an action of another party. For example: "They're running away from the zombies."
Homophones can also have the same spelling, but different meanings. A very common example is the word rose, which could mean the flower or to rise in the past tense. These are also referred to as homographs, due to their similar spelling, but this is a technical term mostly used by scholars.
Some homophones arise from regional pronunciation. For example, the words affect and effect. Affect is pronounced with a long "ah" sound, while effect is pronounced with the short "eh" sound. In many regions these two sounds can be blended together or used interchangeably, causing the two words to appear as homophones.
Students who have learnt English as a second language could identify words that have the same sound in a context. Words that have the same sound are call homophones. According to MacArthur (n.d) homophones “are one of two or more words that are identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning: beer/bier, there/their/they're”.
Those words have the same sound, but not all are simple words, some of them are phrases but their sound are identical to an only word as it was mentioned /they’re & their.
Students who had learnt a second language could know what a homophone is. Words that sound the same would probably confused students. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia: international review of English Studies (2006) has found the evolution of homophones that have been increased. According to the study of evolution, it says that the influences of the grammatical errors in homophones have increased in those days. For some beginners could be difficult to practice all homophones that exist.
Not all homophones have the same sounds in a country. McArthur (1998) “Words may be homophones in one variety of English but not another: father/father and four/for are homophones in some countries, but not in America and Scotland”. According to McArthur (n.d), not all homophones can be pronounced the same; it depends on the country and the accent of people. Long and Richards (2001).
Some speakers pronounced a word different according to their accent for American and British these countries have different manner to speak “accent”.
The examples in English homophones are as follows:
A. aloud/allowed
• Use aloud when referring to something said out loud: Reading aloud –and doing it well–is a skill that requires much practice.
• Use allowed when referring to something permitted: Dogs are not allowed to be on school property between 2:45-4pm.
B. buy/by
• Use buy when purchasing an item: I do need to buy new shoes for the kids.
• Use by as a preposition to indicate location: Please put the sandwiches by the door so we don't forget them!
C. accept/except
• Use accepts as a verb to mean receive: The organization will accept donations through the first of the month.
• Use except as a preposition to mean exclude: You may donate all items except car seats and cribs.
D. you're/ your
• You're is a contraction for you are.
• You're going to absolutely love this new recipe.
• Your is a pronoun. Please bring your books to class with you tomorrow.
E. it's/its
• It's is the contraction for it is.
• It's raining today, so the baseball game will be cancelled.
D. to, two, too
• To – used in the infinitive form of a verb, such as “to walk”, and also to mean “towards”.
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