linguistics - Are "I scream" and "Ice cream" homophones, or do we have another term here?


When two phrases are pronounced alike but have different spelling and meaning, can we call them homophones? e.g. "ice-cream" and "I scream", "nitrate" and "night rate", "that's tough" and "that stuff". Or is there another term for them? What linguistic phenomenon distiguishes these near homophones?


I've checked the putative duplicate at "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream"- Is there a term that describes this 'word play'?
but it isn't exactly what I'm asking here.



Answer



HOMOPHONIC PHRASES are also called oronyms (also called a continunym or a slice-o-nym)


JUNCTURES help differentiate homophonic phrases.




  1. A term used in modern linguistics to describe a distinctive feature of language. Juncture is defined by H. Whitehall in his Structural Essentials of English as an interruption of normal transition between contiguous speech sounds.


  2. Linguistics - The transition from one speech sound to the next, either within a word, as between (t) and (r) in nitrate, or marking the boundaries between words, as between (t) and (r) in night rate. http://www.yourdictionary.com/juncture




  3. The set of phonological features signalling a division between words, such as those that distinguish "a name" from "an aim". http://www.thefreedictionary.com/juncture






  • The exact site of juncture is what helps us differentiate "I scream" from "Ice cream" and perceive they are not true homophones.



Juncture, usually symbolized by the sign "+" is marked by a fading off of the voice and a pause. In the two groups "peace talks" and "pea stalks", juncture occurs after the [s] in peace and after the [i] in pea. Other examples of this differentiation by juncture are:



  • I scream x Ice-cream

  • a name x an aim

  • night rate x nitrate

  • that scum x that's come

  • that's tough x that stuff


Structural Essentials of English, H.Whitehall, Longmans, 1966.



Other references: 1. http://www.amazon.com/Structural-essentials-English-Harold-Whitehall/dp/B0006AUFAO 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juncture


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