Lesson 9: some linguistics

We will take a break from grammar to explore some linguistics and word meanings. Knowing these terms will help with semantics and further clarity of communication.

Five terms to understand and remember. Antonym, synonym, homophone, homonym, neologism.

I find synonym and antonym easy to remember (they are opposite to each other, and synonym sounds like same). To remember the difference between homophone and homonym I remember that a phone relies on sound and it is the sound that is the same(homo) not the spelling.

Antonym (opposites)

Words that have opposite meanings to each other.

Synonym

Words that have similar or identical meanings.

Homophone

Words that sound alike but have different meanings and often different spellings.

Homonym