05 December 2009

"Capitonyms": words whose pronunciation changes when capitalized

polish, Polish
august, August
degas, Degas
herb, Herb
job, Job
lima, Lima
natal, Natal
nice, Nice
rainier, Rainier
reading, Reading
rodeo, Rodeo
tangier, Tangier
worms, Worms

and mousehole, Mousehole (Cornish village pronounced mau-zill)

Found inside the ever-interesting Futility Closet.

Mark adds quixotic and Quixote.
Heather offers maria (plural lunar seas, stress first syllable), Maria.

The website heteronym.com is devoted to this topic of words spelled similarly but pronounced differently (excuse, record, minute).  The subset that where the pronunciation change is triggered by capitalization have been dubbed Capitonyms (additional examples at the link).

14 comments:

  1. Swift LorisDecember 5, 2009 at 12:58 PM

    mousehole and Mousehole, actually...

    ReplyDelete
  2. MinnesotastanDecember 5, 2009 at 1:18 PM

    Oops. Typing faster than I'm thinking again.

    Fixed. Thanks, Swift.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MarkDecember 5, 2009 at 2:11 PM

    Not exactly the same spelling, but close:

    quixotic, Quixote

    ReplyDelete
  4. HeatherDecember 5, 2009 at 4:21 PM

    maria, Maria (the first being the multiple of mare, the seas on the moon, and is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable)

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 5, 2009 at 5:50 PM

    herb, Herb
    job, Job

    Those two I didn't notice any difference in pronouncation. Though I believe Americans pronounce Herb differently to British

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PythasisMay 11, 2013 at 3:03 PM

      Herb the plant in North America is pronounced with a silent H, while the name is pronounced with the H.
      Job, as in "an occupation," is pronounced with an "aw" or "ah" sound, while Job as in "a biblical character" is pronounced with an "oh" sound, as if it were spelled "Jobe."

      Delete
  6. MinnesotastanDecember 5, 2009 at 7:07 PM

    Yes, the "herb" is different here. The "job-Job" is like lob-lobe.

    ReplyDelete
  7. HeavenlyJaneDecember 6, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    Isn't there a special term for these kind of words? Anyone remember?

    ReplyDelete
  8. HeavenlyJaneDecember 6, 2009 at 9:36 AM

    I just answered my own questions - thanks Wikipedia!!

    Heteronym = meaning: different; spelling: same; pronunciation: different

    Heteronyms include words that change their meaning without the involvement of capitalization.

    More info at this website:
    www.heteronym.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. MinnesotastanDecember 6, 2009 at 9:39 AM

    Yes, I found it too, with a subsection on "Capitonyms." I'd better revise the post.

    Thank you. :.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. TOONTODecember 6, 2009 at 1:26 PM

    'roe-dee-oh' / 'Raw-Day-Oh!'

    'target' - 'TARJAY'

    Walmart???

    http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

    ReplyDelete
  11. amyivDecember 6, 2009 at 5:41 PM

    http://bit.ly/jzeLs

    ^^ a is a spectacular poem regarding the English language.

    ReplyDelete
  12. kaibeezyDecember 8, 2009 at 11:36 AM

    .
    i didn't see the Capitonyms on that site
    - link?
    .
    made me recall a Saturday Night Live skit
    with Nicolas Cage as Mr. Asswipe...
    "Arrgh! It's pronounced os-WEE-pay!"
    .

    ReplyDelete
  13. MinnesotastanDecember 8, 2009 at 11:57 AM

    @kaibeezy - the link I found was different from Heavenly Jane's. It's here -

    http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_heteronyms.html

    I still haven't had time to update the post...

    ReplyDelete