I’ve been thinking a lot about homographs lately and, in particular, their subclasses. Here is a new word for you: dihomograph*. A dihomograph is a homograph where the pronunciation or syllabic stress of the word changes based on the part of speech. Here are some examples:

  • You record a record
  • You address an address (when talking about a location, not a speech)
  • You contest a contest
  • You refuse refuse
  • You convert a convert
  • You reject a reject
  • You subject the subject
  • You abstract an abstract
  • You extract the extract
  • You can envelope the envelope
  • You present the present
  • You probably can’t incense the incense, unless you do so anthropomorphically
  • You can route a route
  • You might be able to upset the upset
  • Can a defect defect?

*Coined April 19, 2006 Cory Bickmore, Ryan Byrd