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A Tentative Probe into
Ambiguity
English 0301周方舟
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A Common Linguistic Phenomenon,
Ambiguity
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A Common Linguistic Phenomenon,Amb
iguity
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Types of Ambiguity
? 1,Categorial ambiguity
? 2,Word sense ambiguity
? 3,Structural ambiguity
? 4,Referential ambiguity
? 5,Ellipsis
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1 Types of ambiguity, Categorial ambiguity
?Noun, "Time is money"
?Verb,"Time me on the last lap"
?Adjective,"Time travel is not likely in my life t
ime"
?But what about..,
?"Time flies like an arrow"
?There are supposed to be 5 parses for this sentenc
e,with TIME being used as a noun,verb and adjecti
ve!
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2 Types of ambiguity,Word sense ambiguity
Three sentences using the word CHARGED with
different meanings:
Electrical, "The battery was charged with
jump leads"
Legal,"Thief was charged by PC Smith"
Responsibility,"The lecturer was charged
with student recruitment
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
?"You can have peas and beans or carrots with the
set meal".
?[peas] and [beans or carrots]
?[peas and beans] or [carrots]
?This is known as co-ordinate attachment,
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
?Another Example
?"Put the box on the table by the window in
the kitchen".
?Put the box (a specific box - the one on t
he table by the window) in the kitchen.
?Put the box on the table ( a specific tabl
e - by the window in the kitchen).
?This is known as prepositional attachment,
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
e.g,discuss [sex with Dr,Ruth Westheimer]
[discuss sex] [with Dr,Ruth Westheimer]
e.g,[a large man’s] hat
a large [man’s hat]
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguity
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
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3 Types of ambiguity,Structural ambiguit
y
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4 Types of ambiguity, Referential ambiguity
?More than one object is being referre
d to by a noun phrase,
E.g,After THEY finished the exam the
students and lecturers left,
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4 Types of ambiguity, Referential ambiguity
"Sue and Lisa gave John and Mark some
grotesque horror face masks because they
liked them."
?How many possibilities are there for,they”
and,them” in the sentence? Then think about
the possible combinations!
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5 Types of ambiguity,Ellipsis
?E.g,
"Peter worked hard and passed the exam,
Kevin too"
Three Interpretations:
?Kevin worked hard
?Kevin passed the exam
?Kevin did both
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That’s all,Thank you!