Writing in English would possibly now and again put us on the finish of our wits.
We would possibly every so often want to simply turn into strolling dictionaries so we gained’t run out of lexical sources.
Phrases with minute variations in spelling and pronunciation regularly get us caught in a spider’s internet as a result of we is also triggered to seek the advice of both Mr. Webster or Mr. Oxford first, earlier than deciding which one to use.
Those linguistic oddities are very true with homophonic and polysemic phrases.
Let’s dig deeper into the diversities between two homophonic phrases — phrases with an identical pronunciation however beside the point meanings — “coma” and “comma”.
What’s the distinction between “coma” and “comma”?
Coma, the noun model of the adjective “comatose”, is a state of brief or everlasting unconsciousness because of medically-related problems equivalent to mind harm, intoxication, or oxygen deficiency. In some other sense, it would additionally mean the hair-like construction of a comet’s head.
At the utterly far-off a part of the semantic spectrum, a comma is a non-lexical written image (a punctuation mark) used to alert pauses and information the rhythm of sentences. It will additionally refer to a butterfly species in its secondary sense.
Finally, even though each peripherally sound alike, the primary vowel sound of every phrase is produced another way: coma comprises the /oᙀ/ sound as in “boat” and comma bears the /ä/ sound as in “drama”.
Coma: Etymology, That means, and Phonology
This phase goals to shed some mild at the beginning, meaning, and pronunciation of coma.
In its first sense, the phrase is basically utilized in drugs which means that extended unconsciousness whilst it manner the hair-like construction at the comet’s head in its 2nd sense.
Notice that either one of the meanings or senses of coma are used as nouns.
Etymology & That means
The primary sense of the phrase coma is derived from the Historic Greek time period (κῶμα) which means that “deep sleep” and it’s restrictedly used within the clinical box.
When a residing organism is going right into a coma, it does no longer reply to stimuli (i.e. ache infliction) as it might in its aware state.
In a similar way, the astronomical sense of coma additionally in the beginning got here from the Historic Greek time period (κόμη), pronounced as “ko-me”, which means that “hair”.
The similar time period additionally gave delivery to the name comet, which is a ball of ice from the outer portion of the Sun Gadget that becomes an interesting heavenly scene because it travels nearer to the solar.
On-line dictionaries agree that the primary sense of coma used to be first used within the 1640s whilst the second one within the 1760s.
Phonology
The preliminary vowel in coma has the minimum pair diphthong sound an identical to the sound we use in “pass”, “boat”, and “don’t”.
A minimum pair diphthong is a mix of 2 vowel sounds subtly mixed into one.
The diphthong /oᙀ/ is additionally most often referred to because the lengthy “o” vowel sound and will also be merely written as /ow/ for extra handy pedagogical practices.
Coma is phonetically transcribed into /’okayoᙀmə/, following the American English pronunciation, and we would possibly practice the oval to a rounder mouth place right through the sound replica.
The tongue additionally strikes to the center a part of the mouth coming from the decrease portion whilst the jaw fairly rises upwards against the tip of all the sound.
Comma: Etymology, That means, and Phonology
The main points underneath cope with how the phrase comma has been derived along side its meaning in numerous senses, in addition to its pronunciation incongruity with the previous phrase.
The similar as the previous phrase, comma will also be utilized in two senses that are each nouns.
Etymology & That means
In the meantime, the punctuation comma is of Greek beginning (koµµα), as smartly, which denotes the meaning of “a cut-off section”, later transferred into English during the Latin language.
Commas are used to segregate phrases, words, or clauses which sign brief breaks when studying.
Comma utilization may just both be grammatically or stylistically-based relying at the author’s goal.
Having a look at comma’s 2nd sense, it may additionally refer to the black-and-brown butterfly species residing in Eurasia and North Africa being able to camouflage on lifeless leaves due to its particular colour aggregate.
Phonology
The primary vowel sound in comma is produced the use of the open central unrounded vowel /ä/ an identical with the preliminary vowel sounds in “drama”, “mama”, and “karma”.
The open central unrounded vowel sound is a unmarried vowel produced via positioning the tongue clear of the roof of the mouth and nearer to the bottom, whilst the mouth is moderately unrounded and the jaw drops on the identical time.
Comma is phonetically transcribed as /’okayämə/ which is technically one vowel sound shorter than /’okayoᙀmə/ because the latter phrase comprises a mixed vowel sound or a diphthong.
Conclusion
To sum, coma and comma, regardless of having virtually precisely the similar sounds and spelling, do have numerous variations, particularly in meaning.
Taking into consideration the difficult nature of repeatedly evolving languages, it’s however not unusual to to find ourselves getting puzzled via phrase permutations and contours.
Alternatively, it’s nonetheless recommended, even though, that we all know how to disambiguate such linguistic irregularities so we will use them in each writing and oral speech with most flexibility, thereby main to efficient communique methods.
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