Meaning of homoiophone | Babel Free

Definitions

A word similar — but not identical — in pronunciation with another; compare homeograph and homophone.

Examples

“This was through the existence of homophones and homoiophones in a language, of words with the same or similar sounds, but with diverse significations.”

“This was through the existence of homophones and homoiophones, that is, of words with different meanings but the same or nearly the same sound.”

“Have you any idea as to what ought to be done with what I believe you pepel call homophones or homoiophones. I hope that is not the right name for them. But is it not foolish to have an educated nation that refuses to readjust such inconveniences?”

“By way of bringing this intricate and tedious dissertation to an end, allow me to recite a short specimen of the thing itself — a Siamese “jaw-breaker” which, for ingenious bewilderment by means of homoiophones, I am sure does not fall behind our “Theophilus Thistle the Thistle-sifter,” while in coloratura of intonation it certainly leaves that far behind.”

“Another explanation relates to the actual use of homophony-generating rules; perhaps pseudohomophones are not homophones but rather ‘homoiophones’, that is, phonologically similar but not exactly equal to their word mates.”

CEFR level