Heteronym 多音字

duōyīnzì · from Greek

What is a heteronym?

A heteronym is a word spelt the same as another but pronounced differently with a different meaning; Chinese calls such characters 多音字.

English examples include lead (metal) and lead (guide). In Chinese, a single character can have several readings with different meanings, which trips up learners and text-to-speech engines alike. Japanese kanji take this to extremes with multiple on'yomi and kun'yomi.

Examples

lead / lead; tear / tear; 行 xíng (go) / háng (row, firm); 長 cháng (long) / zhǎng (grow, chief); 樂 lè (happy) / yuè (music); 好 hǎo (good) / hào (to like)

Kungfucius says: One character, two pronunciations, and a 50 percent chance of embarrassing yourself.