HOLA, OLA
You learn something new everyday, right? Well, I learned something new that increased my understanding of international linguistics. And, of all places, I learned it in a Mexican restaurant during the fiesta portion of our typical Monday night yogachilada evening (first introduced in my post Yogachilada Day).
Brandi, my daughter, and I went out for our usual dinner of enchiladas after yoga. While munching fresh warm tortilla chips dipped in fiery hot salsa, I glanced at a tent-card on the table advertising a drink called Ola Verde, with its English translation listed as “Green Wave.” I knew “verde” meant “green,” so I surmised “ola” meant “wave.” After consulting with Alexia, our Spanish linguistic expert who also doubled as our waitress, she indeed verified “ola” meant “wave.”
I queried further, “Doesn’t the word ‘hola’ mean ‘hello’ in Spanish? And it’s pronounced the same as ‘ola,’ but spelled differently?”
“Si, senor,” Alexia affirmed, “It does mean ‘hello’ and is pronounced like ‘ola,’ but it’s spelled with an ‘h’ at the beginning.”
Eureka! Like in English, Spanish also has homophones — words pronounced the same, but with different spellings and meanings. Of course it makes sense other languages have homophones. I just never considered the possibility before.
How many unconsidered possibilities lie beyond our reach simply because we’re not aware of them? An infinite amount, I bet. Paying attention to what’s going on right now is exciting. The wonder of life abounds in every moment!
I’m now imagining Jeff, my surfer-dude buddy, chanting “Hola, ola!” as a mantra every time he sees a killer wave approach!
Some homophones in English are the words “pare,” “pear,” and “pair.” The pronunciation of each is the same, but the spellings are obviously different and their meanings differ. On a pair of pears I can pare off the peel while my friend peals off the line at a red light. Then revel in the throes of joy as he throws the peels out a window, hitting a queen leaning against a lamppost like a quean. After discarding the waste, I can expand my waist by eating the two pears, too. Then again, my friend may wish that with a whish I toss him a slice. I can share my cache, bought with spare cash. And then sing him a hymn of praise, while he also prays. We may then stop for a few ales, which are certainly good for whatever ails you.
If there’s any pear leftover, we can place it in a bowl and then rent a lane to go bowl. Words spelled the same that sound alike but have different meanings are homographs. So after bowling we can commune in a commune, leap a yard at time as we flee from the yard, stalk animals through a field of corn stalks, quail over a quail that startles us, snake past a snake in the grass, compress a compress over the wound if it bites us, bear the fright of running into a bear, bow to a king sailing in the bow of a ship, subject his subjects to our arguments as we contest the outcome of a contest, offer the king a rose after he rose from a royal nap, and listen to him object if he’s pricked by the object.
Homophones and homographs are members of the same family called homonyms. It’s a lot like we are with the Mexican staff at the restaurant — all members of the human family.
If you're enjoying this over coffee, tea, or whatever, please consider buying me a cup! If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
