There is such an interesting linguistic phenomenon as homography. The name comes from the Greek words "equally" and "I write". Homographs are words or word forms that are identical in writing, but their pronunciation differs due to the difference in stress. In another way they are called graphic homonyms. They arise quite by accident, no one creates them purposefully. A vivid example of such a phenomenon is the lexeme "atlas".
Meaning of the word
So, what is an atlas? Dictionaries give at least four different meanings. Two of them are proper names, while others are common nouns.
Atlas is:
- smooth silk fabric;
- name of an ancient Greek deity;
- collection of geographical maps;
- the name of the mountains in northwest Africa.
The meaning of each individual homograph differs from the meaning of another, and it is difficult to find lexical points of contact between them. It is interesting that each of the words is borrowed in its origin, but from different languages.
Now more about each of these values.
Fabric
In this case, the stress falls on the second syllable, although many do not know about it.
Satin is tightsilk or semi-silk material with a gloss. It shimmers beautifully as the front side is shiny.
The word comes from the Arabic "to iron", which is quite logical, because the satin fabric is really pleasant to the touch, sliding, flowing. But it got into the Russian language a long time ago and, most likely, through German or Polish. In the inventory of Boris Godunov's property, dated 1589, the word "departed" is found. Consequently, at least even then in Russia they were familiar with this material. The word itself has been slightly transformed over time and acquired the usual spelling and sound for a modern person.
Derivative words (such as the adjective "satin") retain the stress on the second syllable.
God's name
Atlas is a titan from ancient Greek mythology who held the sky and the whole earth on his shoulders. True, he is better known as Atlas. Such a heavy burden is a punishment from Zeus for disobedience. Closely related to this proper name are the following two meanings of the lexeme under discussion.
The meaning of the word "atlas": a collection of maps
In this case, not the second, but the first vowel "a" is stressed. This word refers to a collection of geographical, anatomical, linguistic maps. Most often it is issued as an appendix to scientific books. Such a collection of maps may be bound or in the form of separate sheets. Usually each of them has a short title.or explanatory text. An atlas may also contain tables or figures.
For the first time this word appeared in the Russian language almost 500 years ago thanks to the work of the cartographer Kremer, who called his book an atlas. The name comes from the already mentioned name of the ancient Greek god Atlanta, or Atlas. The image of this titan was on the cover of Kremer's work. After 200 years, in 1734, the first Russian atlas was published. That was the name of the collection of geographical maps of the Russian Empire. This word has taken root in Russian without any problems. Although initially only collections of geographical maps were called an atlas, over time it began to be used in relation to the field of anatomy, astronomy, and linguistics.
Geographic name
This is also the name of a mountain range in Africa. It is located on the territory of countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco. The mountain chain with a total length of 2000 km consists of the Tell Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas and Saharan Atlas ranges.
This toponym is also associated with the name of the titan Atlanta. Here the analogy is simple: they believed that the mountains with their peaks rest against the sky itself. It can be said with firm confidence that they got their name for a reason. In particular, the High Atlas range is the site of the greatest concentration of Africa's largest peaks. It extends from the plains of the Atlantic to Algiers. The average height of the mountains is 3-4 km, and the peak is Jebel Toubkal (4165 m).
It is also interesting that the Europeans called the Atlas Mountains, and the localsgave completely different names to individual ridges of this tectonic system. And no wonder, because ancient Greek myths and legends were not widespread in Africa.
Knowing such subtleties, you can enrich the lexical arsenal and be sure of the correct pronunciation of the word.
