1. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
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2. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
ABSTRACT
There have been several lexical and syntactical items are present that have many
meanings, however, it is not clear whether this advantage for ambiguous words arises
because they have multiple unrelated meanings, or because they have a large number
of highly related word senses. on this account we will discuss this ambiguity in a
discriptive way to clear its obstacles.
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3. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
AMBIGUITY
Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation.
OR
the possibility of interpreting an expression in two or more distinct ways.
AMBIGUITY IN LANGUAGE
Something is ambiguous when it can be understood in two or more possible senses or ways.
In a language A word, phrase, or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning.
TYPES OF AMBIGUITIES IN LANGUAGE
Linguistic theorists have identified these main types of ambiguity.
LEXICAL AMBIGUITY
If the ambiguity is in a single word it is called as lexical ambiguity.
FOR EXAMPLE
Everyday examples include nouns like 'chip', 'pen' and 'suit', verbs like 'call', 'draw' and 'run', and
adjectives like 'deep', 'dry' and 'hard'. There are various tests for ambiguity. One test is having
two unrelated antonyms, as with 'hard', which has both 'soft' and 'easy' as opposites. almost any
word has more than one meaning.
"Note" = "A musical tone" or "A short written record."
"Lie" = "Statement that you know it is not true" or "present tense of lay: to be or put yourself in a
flat position.
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4. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY
If ambiguity is in a sentence or clause it is called as syntactic ambiguity
FOR EXAMPLE:
Consider the structurally ambiguous sentence, 'The chicken is ready to eat', which could be used
to describe either a hungry chicken or a broiled chicken.
"John enjoys painting his models nude." Who is nude?
"Visiting relatives can be so boring." Who is doing the visiting?
HOW AMBIGUITY CREAT IN A LANGUAGE:
We tend to think of language as a clear and literal vehicle for accurately communicating ideas.
But even when we use language literally, misunderstandings arise and meanings shift. People
can be intentionally or unintentionally ambiguous. Nevertheless, when someone uses a
potentially ambiguous sentence or expression, usually the intention was to express only one
meaning. As we know, most words can have denotations, apparent meanings, connotations and
implied or hidden meanings. Also, we often use words in a figurative way.
Although ambiguity is fundamentally a property of linguistic expressions, people are also
said to be ambiguous on occasion in how they use language. This can occur if, even when their
words are unambiguous, their words do not make what they mean uniquely determinable Strictly
speaking, however, ambiguity is a semantic phenomenon, involving linguistic meaning rather
than speaker meaning.. Generally when one uses ambiguous words or sentences, one does not
consciously entertain their unintended meanings, although there is psycholinguistic evidence that
when one hears ambiguous words one momentarily accesses and then rules out their irrelevant
senses. When people use ambiguous language, generally its ambiguity is not intended.
Occasionally, however, ambiguity is deliberate.
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5. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
AMBIGUITY IN NATURAL LANGUAGES
“You would expect that since languages are constantly changing, they would evolve to get rid of
Ambiguity. But if you look at natural languages, they are massively ambiguous: Words have
multiple meanings, there are multiple ways to parse strings of words. To borrow a phrase from
Geography: "The map is not the land". Language can be used to embody ideas, but not all ideas
can be pinned down in one word. Japanese has a lot of words for cultural concepts, but they are
more defined by each individuals' experience, upbringing, and social circle than by some
dictionary entry. It is hard to have an efficient culling of ambiguity when meaning can be
dependent on one's circumstances.
If you look at most spoken English, the vast majority of the words have one or maybe
two syllables at most. Many of the words we use are quite flexible, though, having many, many
meanings. Philosophers interest in ambiguity has largely stemmed from concerns regarding the
regimentation of natural language in formal logic: arguments that may look good in virtue of
their linguistic form in fact can go very wrong if the words or phrases involved are equivocal.
Philosophers have often found ambiguity the sort of thing one needs to avoid and eradicate.
When they do their serious Philosophical business. Frege worried about the phenomenon enough
to counsel against allowing any multiplicities of sense in a perfect language. Authors, poets,
lyricists and the like, on the other hand, have often found ambiguity to be an extremely powerful
tool.
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6. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
Senior author of the study Ted Gibson, an MIT professor of cognitive science says:
"Various people have said that ambiguity is a problem for communication. But once we
understand that context disambiguates, then ambiguity is not a problem - it's something you can
take advantage of, because you can reuse easy [words] in different contexts over and over
again."
SOME EXAMPLES OF AMBIGUITY
• I promise I'll give you a ring tomorrow.
(Ring can simply mean calling them on phone but can also mean a piece of jewellery).
• He gave her cat food.
(Is he giving cat food to her or is he giving her cat some food?)
• The lady hit the man with an umbrella.
(Is the lady using an umbrella to hit or is she hitting a man who is carrying an umbrella?)
• '[Tibetan history] teacher' and 'Tibetan [history teacher]'.
• 'Perot knows a richer man than Trump'.
(Perot knows a man who is richer than Trump and that Perot knows man who is richer
than any man Trump knows)
CONCLUSION
Language cannot exist without ambiguity; which has represented both a curse and a blessing
through the ages. Since there is no one "truth" and no absolutes, we can only rely on relative
truths arising from groups of people who, within their particular cultural systems, attempt to
answer their own questions and meet their needs for survival.
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7. AMBIGUITY IN A LANGUAGE
REFRENCES
• THE ADVANTAGE OF AMBIGUITY IN LANGUAGE.
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/
• KENT BACH, Rout ledge encyclopedia of philosophy entry.
http://online.sfsu.edu/kbach/
• Ambiguity (2011)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/
• Language Ambiguity: A curse and a blessing, by CECILIA QUIROGA-
CLARE
www.seasite.niu.edu/
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