Hostname: page-component-6898cfcb55-zsp5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-11T10:13:05.849Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Near-Homonymy as a Factor in Language Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

William Ames Coates
William Ames Coates*
Affiliation:
Kansas State University
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is not generally recognized that near-homonymy may, like homonymy, be a causative factor in language change. Relevant instances are cited from the Germanic languages where near-homonymy has resulted in homonymy contrary to laws of regular sound change, thus proving the causative influence. It then becomes possible to accept similar causation in cases where near-homonymy is followed by loss of a word, as happens frequently with homonymy. Finally, implications of the effects of near-homonymy for the concept of distinctiveness in language are considered.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , September 1968, pp. 467 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © 1968 by Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bloomfield, Leonard. 1933. Language. New York, Holt.Google Scholar
Brown, James C. 1960. Loglan. Scientific American 202:6.53–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilliéron, Jules, and Roques, Mario. 1912. Études de géographie linguistique d'après l'Atlas linguistique de la France. Paris, Champion.Google Scholar
Kieft, Anthonij P. 1938. Homonymie en haar invloed op de taalontwikkeling. Groningen, Wolters.Google Scholar
Kluge, Friedrich. 1951. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 15th ed., rev. by Alfred Götze. Berlin, de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Siebs, Theodor. 1901. Geschichte der friesischen Sprache. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, ed. by Paul, Hermann, 2nd ed., 1.1152–1463. Strassburg, Trübner.Google Scholar
Ullmann, Stephen. 1962. Semantics: an introduction to the science of meaning. New York, Barnes & Noble.Google Scholar
Wessén, Elias. 1941. Svensk språkhistoria. Vol. I, Ljudlära och formlära. Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar