We are confronted yet, with another in the family of homophone, the nouns, “reign” and “rein,” that I would say are the writer’s albatross, if not carefully thought out before use. Homophones come in different shapes and workings, that it takes the discerning journalist or reporter to distinguish between the two sound alike words, but differs in spelling and meaning. To remind us again, in order to get the picture clearer on the issue, homophones are vocabularies, which, according to the dictionary of the century, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, are words which sound the same as another word, but different in spelling and meaning.
For example, “bear, bare, sweet, suite, sewerage, sewage (refuse), bread, bred etc. It takes one with the right frame of mind to distinguish between them, even though it may look simple to separate these monosyllabic phrases. Not so for the learners of the rope, especially, the greenhorns, to state it plainly. I have been following closely, the misapplication or misuse of the two identical expressions and verbalisation, in short, of ” reign” and “rein,” and believe the time is now to make certain that the confusion between the two nouns, “reign” and rein” be sorted out, to avoid further misuse or mix up of the two. The implication is that, the readers of the text, the print media in this case, is the guiltiest here, are misinformed concerning the correct usage of the homophones, “reign” and “rein.”
The incorrect application of the words, whether in spelling and meaning, in extreme cases, the language experts, describe it as linguistic noise. Linguistic noise stems from wrong construction of words, phrases, and syntax, thereby rendering the grammar incoherent and ambiguous. All against the rule of effective communication to stimulate interest; that even the kindergarten and primary school pupil would understand and comprehend from the encoder, the sender of message, at a glance. That brings us to the correct usage of “reign” and rein.” Again, let’s get it right from what Chambers 21st Century Dictionary wants us to take home, from the interpretation of the sound-same phrases, but with different intentions, “reign,” rein.”
The vocabulary, “reign,” derived from the Latin word, ‘regnum’ – kingdom, and pronounced, ‘rein,’ is the period of time for which a King or Queen rules, the dictionary explains, or the period during which someone or something rules, it emphasised. To be in control or dominates. Recall the reign of terror, especially in the dark ages when satanic men such as Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany with the ambition to become emperor of the world. The near extermination of the Jews in the infamous gas chambers mass execution which left humanity in shock before he was eventually stopped through the intervention of the allied forces led by Britain and America in the mid-20th century.
He reportedly committed suicide when the tide turned against him. Can Nigeria describe the Abacha hey days in the late eighties as reign of terror? History would justify that. One could also leverage on the verb form, reigned, reigning to describe or tell the Queen, King or ruler in control, calling the shot as we have in despotic and domineering men and their women in position of authorities. The adjective, “reigning,” ruling, prevailing; fittingly talks about the reigning champion, holding the title, especially in sports. Conversely, the noun, “rein” means something different.
The dictionary mentions it as the strip used to guide or control horse, and went on to say, any means of controlling, governing or restraining someone or something. I think, this is where the confusion sets in between the two vocabularies, “reign” and “rein.”
For instance, to take up the reins of something, is to exercise control. Keep a tight rein on someone or something is to keep strict control of them or it, the dictionary advises. As I often say, the context of usage determines the correct message in order to distance ourselves from making linguistic noise which constitute a barrier to effective communication and misinforms the reading and listening publics.
