Jingle Bells - U.S. Culture - Homophones, Homographs & Homonyms

Language Notes

Topic 14:

Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms

When I hear these bells jingle,

I think of two things.

I think of winter fun,

all the winter fun surrounding our December holidays.

I think of Christmas and Santa Claus,

sleigh rides and sleigh bells.

And I think of my grandmother.

My grandmother was very proud

of her Polish heritage,

and she loved polkas.

When she would go to polka parties,

she sometimes took these bells

and she would jingle the bells

while she listened to the music.

Did you know that "jingle" could be a noun or a verb?

I can jingle the bells.

I can make that sound.

What do you hear?

The jingle of bells.

But "jingle" as a noun

has another meaning.

It has nothing to do with bells.

If you know anything about marketing,

then you know that in advertising

they use jingles,

they use short songs

to help us remember a certain product.

"Jingle" is a good example of a homonym.

The words look the same,

sound the same

but they have different meanings.

In this lesson, I'd like to talk about

words like "jingle."

We're going to talk about homonyms, homographs, and homophones.

You already know what a homonym is.

I gave you the example "jingle."

Here's another one.

"Star." S-T-A-R.

Do you think of this?

The shape of a star.

"Star" can also refer to what we see in the night sky.

And "star" can also be a celebrity.

Like a film star, a sports star, or a radio star.

Homonyms then look the same, sound the same,

but have different meanings.

What about "homophone"?

Homophone.

"Phone" has to do with sound.

So words sound the same,

but they have different meanings,

and they're written differently.

For example...

Which word am I referring to?

I

Like myself?

The first person, singular pronoun.

Eye.

Or...what I see with?

E-Y-E

So we have homonyms, homophones, and homographs.

If homophones are wrods that sound the same,

have the same pronunciation,

can you guess what homographs are?

"Graph" has to do with writing.

So homographs are written the same way.

They share the same spelling,

but not necessarily the same pronunciation.

Here's an example.

Can you see what I made?

This is a holiday ribbon, and I tied a bow.

Bow.

B-O-W.

B-O-W...can I only say (it one way)?

I can also say...

"bow"...how I bend from my waist.

In certain countries, in certain contexts,

people bow.

Let's talk more about homonyms, homophones, and homographs.

First, I'll give you practice with homophones.

We'll use the holiday song "Jingle Bells."

Every American knows this song,

but usually we only know the first verse.

We forget the other ones.

I'll say the words,

and you'll help me with the spelling, okay?

Let's start.

Which words do we need?

This might be a little tricky.

"O'er" is a contraction.

A short form for "over."

And it's literary, like bookish...

Now we start the chorus.

Which word?

Natasha, I have a question for you.

When we sing "Jingle Bells,"

what word do we say at the end?

When we say..."Jingle bells, jingle bells"

"Jingle all the way."

"Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh."

Yes! And how is that spelled?

H-A-Y or H-E-Y?

H-E-Y.

Of course.

Because if we say H-A-Y,

what are we talking about?

Um, the hay that horses eat.

Yeah. Hay for horses.

Now we'll take the same song,

the same words,

the same first verse,

and I'll give you practice with homonyms.

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!

And...Happy Holidays,...people!

Can we do it without the "people," Natasha?

Fine! - Okay.

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!

And...Happy Holidays...

What were you saying?

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!

And...Happy Holidays!