The words Right and White, and Son and Sun, are examples of which linguistic concept?

• A. Antonyms
• B. Synonyms
• C. Homophones
• D. Homonyms

Answer: (C)

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Son and Sun illustrate this clearly: they are pronounced the same way (/sʌn/), but they refer to different things—a male child versus the star at the center of our solar system. Right and White, on the other hand, do not share the same pronunciation because they begin with different sounds (/r/ vs /w/), so they aren’t homophones. The other possibilities describe different relationships between words—antonyms are opposites, synonyms share meaning, and homonyms is a broader term that can cover words that are either spelled the same or sound the same. So the concept shown by Son and Sun is homophones.