Homonyms

Definition: a homonym is a word with the same pronounciation as another but with a different meaning, origin, and, usually, spelling.

Purpose: to illustrate how C4.5 and C4.5rules can be used to automate a more difficult task.

Problem: using three collected sets of instances containing homonyms, learn rules to determine, given a window of the five previous words (classified according to their respective Part Of Speech), which spelling of each homonym is preferred.

Downloadable Files

Homonym Pair	filestem.names	filestem.data	Decision Tree	Decision Rules
"Bare" versus "Bear"	bare.names	bare.data	text or gif	text or gif
"Baron" versus "Barren"	baron.names	baron.data	text or gif	text or gif
"In" versus "Inn"	in.names	in.data	text or gif	text or gif
"Wait" versus "Weight"	wait.names	wait.data	text or gif	text or gif

Summary of Results

Comment: only the immediately preceeding word/part of speech contributes to these rules.

"Bare" versus "Bear"

• Rule 1: if the word before the homonym is a verb, then use the spelling "bare".
  e.g., "He was bare."
• Rule 2: if the word before the homonym is an adverb, then use the spelling "bare".
  e.g., "He was very bare."
• Rule 3: if the word before the homonym word is modal (e.g., will, shall), then use the spelling "bear".
  e.g., "They shall bear gifts."
• Otherwise, by default, spell the homonym as "bear".

"Baron" versus "Barren"

• Rule 1: if the word before the homonym is a verb, then use the spelling "barren".
  e.g., "Deserts are barren biomes."
• Rule 2: if the word before the homonym is an article, then use the spelling "baron".
  e.g., "He is a baron."
• Otherwise, by default, spell the homonym as "barren".

"In" versus "Inn"

• Rule 1: if the word before the homonym is a verb, then use the spelling "in".
  e.g., "She walked in."
• Rule 2: if the word before the homonym is an article, then use the spelling "inn".
  e.g., "They stayed at an inn."
• Otherwise, by default, spell the homonym as "in".

"Wait" versus "Weight"

• Rule 1: if the word before the homonym is a possessive pronoun, then use the spelling "weight".
  e.g., "Her weight."
• Rule 2: if the word before the homonym is a pronoun, then use the spelling "wait".
  e.g., "I wait."
• Otherwise, by default, spell the homonym as "wait".