Literary Discourse: ‘ExpEnsive’ and ‘ExpAnsive’: Sources of Confusion

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• Kweku Donsuro 10 years ago

  You have tried, but I do not agree that expensive and expansive are homophones because the 3 sound in expensive is far away from the 'A' sound in expansive, so you are wrong there. I will send you soft copy of my book.

  You have tried, but I do not agree that expensive and expansive are homophones because the 3 sound in expensive is far away from the 'A' sound in expansive, so you are wrong there. I will send you soft copy of my book.

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• Dr Kwesi Atta Sakyi 10 years ago

  You have done well to enlighten the public on some of the flaws in English assailing our youth in their write-ups. However, homophones are words with exact phonetic sounds but quite different spelling. Examples are : one, wo ...
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  You have done well to enlighten the public on some of the flaws in English assailing our youth in their write-ups. However, homophones are words with exact phonetic sounds but quite different spelling. Examples are : one, won, mail, male, alter, altar, seize, cease, pore, pour etc

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• Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

  Interesting observation by both commentators concerning the "homophonicity" of "expansive" and "expensive".
  
  Surprisingly, I would stick to Prof. Azindoo's view. Homophones don't necessary have to sound exactly the same. Th ...
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  Interesting observation by both commentators concerning the "homophonicity" of "expansive" and "expensive".
  
  Surprisingly, I would stick to Prof. Azindoo's view. Homophones don't necessary have to sound exactly the same. This is not even possible given regional variances in pronunciation. Similarity in homophones cannot therefore mean sameness in pronunciation. It simply means alike. Twins that look alike don't necessarily look the same.
  
  Let us take the words "to", "two" and "too" which "The Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary" group together as example of words that are homophones. You will agree that the pronunciation of these words are not exactly the same, but they are similar enough to qualify as homophones. In this vein, we can also conclude that "expensive" and "expansive", while not pronounced exactly the same, are close enough to be described as homophones. If in doubt, listen to the pronunciation of the words from a good phonetic source, and you will see my drift. Remember also that we can correctly assume that Prof. Azindoo did his research before coming here.
  
  But all in all, it is a good thing that Prof. Azindoo's work here is being well scrutinized for accuracy. Maybe he will come here to explain himself further.

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• Abubakar M. M. Azindoo 10 years ago

  Thanks to all those who have scrutinized my article. All forms of scrutiny are welcome, as they will enhance the quality of the discourse.
  
  However, I humbly maintain that "Expensive" and "Expansive" are homophonous on th ...
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  Thanks to all those who have scrutinized my article. All forms of scrutiny are welcome, as they will enhance the quality of the discourse.
  
  However, I humbly maintain that "Expensive" and "Expansive" are homophonous on the following grounds:
  
  - The concept of homophony largely depemds on two features: Exactness (sameness) and Alikeness (Similarity). That is why homophones are also called sound-alike words.
  
  - Two dictionaries corroborate each of the two features in their definitions of homphones. As stated earlier by Dr SAS, the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines homophone as "one of two or more words pronounced ALIKE but different in meaning or derivation or spelling." the dictionary then lists as examples the following words: to, too, two.
  
  The Oxford Dictionary of English defines homophone as "each of two of more words having the SAME pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spellings. New and knew are examples given by the dictionary.
  
  - In its dynamism, English continues to offer opportunities of phonetic variations occasioned by regionalism. Clearly, the standard American pronunciation of many words is quite different from that of many words in British English. This reminds me of an American friend I met in Cardiff, UK who argues that "exept" and "accept" are homophones.
  
  In view of the above explanation, I humbly contend that the semantic properties of homophones go beyond SAME pronnunciation. In fact to advance the argument of SAME pronunciation is to narrow the meaning of homophony and the scope of homophones. Morden English has made it impossible to have a universally accepted list of homophones, since variations in phonetics continue to be dominant features of the language, especially English as a Second Language.
  
  Darling brother Kweku Donsuro, I can't wait to have the soft copy of your book, since it will be useful to me.

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• Kweku Donsuro 10 years ago

  I 've already emailed you the soft copy of the book.

  I 've already emailed you the soft copy of the book.

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• Abubakar M. M. Azindoo 10 years ago

  Thanks dear brother Kweku. I have just seen the book. I should have checked my email before the response. But I still need your response on my reaction to your comments. Hahahaaa! Stay blessed.

  Thanks dear brother Kweku. I have just seen the book. I should have checked my email before the response. But I still need your response on my reaction to your comments. Hahahaaa! Stay blessed.

  reply