yms is referred to as "radiation of synonyms".
Chapter 2. The interrelations between homonymy and polysemantic words
.1 Comparative typological analysis of linguistic phenomena in English and Russian
As it was mentioned before, two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and (in many cases) origin are called homonyms. The term is derived from Greek (homos 'similar' and onoma 'name') and thus excises very well the sameness of name combined with the difference in meaning.The most widely accepted classification is that recognizing homonyms proper, homophones and homographs. Homonyms proper are words identical in pronunciation and spelling, like/as if and liver above or like scale 'one of the thin plates that form the outer covering of most fishes and reptiles' and scale, 'a basis for a system of measuring'. Homophones are words of the same sound but of different spelling and meaning: air :: heir; arms :: alms; buy :: bye: by; him :: hymn; knight :: night; not :: knot; or :: ore :: oar; piece; peace; rain :: reign; scent :: cent :: sent; steel :: steal; storey;: story write :: right :: rite and many others.example, in the sentence The millwright on my right thinks it right that some conventional rite should symbolize the right of every man to write as he pleases. the sound complex [rait] is noun, adjective, adverb and verb, has four different spellings and six different meanings. [7] difference may be confined to the use of a capital letter as in bill and Bill, in the following example: "How much is my milk bill?" "Excuse me, Madam, but my name is John." ; Homographs are words different in sound and in meaning but accidentally identical in spelling: bow [bou] :: bow Ibau]; lead [li: d] :: lead [led]; row [rouj :: row [rau]; sewer I'soua] :: sewer [sjual; tear [tea] :: tear [tia]; wind [wind] :: wind [wand] and many more.has been often argued that homographs constitute a phenomenon that should be kept apart from homonymy as the object of linguistics is sound language. This viewpoint cans hardly be accepted. Because of the effects of education and culture written English is a generalized national form of division. An average speaker does not separate the written and oral form. On the contrary he is more likely to analyze the words in Terries of letters than in terms of phonemes with which he is less familiar. That is why a linguist must take into consideration both the spelling and the pronunciation of words when analyzing cases of identity of form and diversity of content. [8] types of classification for homonyms proper have been suggested. The one most often used in dissent-day Annalistic in Russia it is that suggested by Prof. A. I. Smirnitsky. It has been criticized for failing to bring out the main ...
