Homofonie

Homofonie, or homophony, is a term used in several disciplines to describe different but related concepts concerning sound and pronunciation. In linguistics, homofonie refers to the phenomenon that distinct lexical items can share the same pronunciation. These items may differ in spelling and meaning, such as night and knight, or to, two and too. The concept is closely related to, but not identical with, homophones, homographs, and homonyms, depending on whether spelling and meaning are considered.

In musical terminology, homofonie describes a texture in which one main melody is accompanied by chords or a subordinate accompaniment that moves in the same rhythm. The texture emphasizes a single melodic line while the accompanying voices or parts provide harmony. This is in contrast to polyphony, where multiple independent melodies occur simultaneously, and to monophony, where a single melodic line is unaccompanied.

The term derives from the Greek roots homo- meaning same and phone meaning sound. In Dutch, homofonie is used across both linguistics and music to denote these distinct but parallel ideas, with the English counterpart most often rendered as homophony. The concept is widely applied in language studies to discuss pronunciation-based ambiguity and in music theory to classify tonal textures.