FLST08-09 Linguistic Foundations
Exercise of week 1 of Linguistic Foundations (31.10.2008)
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the quality or state of being ambiguous. When a sentence is ambiguous,
it has two or more possible meanings. There are two types of ambiguity in a sentence :
lexical ambiguity and structural ambiguity. Lexical ambiguity occurs when a sentence
contains a word or words that has or have more than one meaning. For example, the sentence
Jane broke the glasses is ambiguous because the word glasses may be interpreted as
drinking vessels made of glass or a pair of lenses in a frame that rest on the nose and ears.
Structural ambiguity, on the other hand, occurs because a part of the sentence is interpreted
as having either different structures or the same structure but with different groups of
components. For example, the subject of the sentence Flying planes can be dangerous, which
is flying planes, may be a structure of modification consisting of the head planes and the
modifier flying, or a structure of complementation consisting of the verbal element flying and
the direct object planes. In another example, the predicate of the sentence We talked about
the party last night, which is a structure of modification, has two possible groups of
components: the head talk about the party and the modifier last night, or the head talk and
the modifier about the party last night.
Exercise 1 Lexical Ambiguity
Study each of the following ambiguous sentences carefully and underline the word or
words that make(s) the sentence ambiguous. Then, in the blank provided, give two possible
meanings in complete sentences for each.
1. Mary thinks the present is nice.
a. Mary thinks the gift is nice.
b. Mary thinks the present time is nice.
2. She is standing near the bank.
a. She is standing near the bank of the river.
b. She is standing near the bank where people deposit and withdraw money.
the bank building.
3. An old friend of mine teaches at that school.
a. A friend of mine (whom) I have known for a long time teaches at that school.
b. A friend of mine who is old teaches at that school.
not young
4. Children may feed animals.
a. It is possible for children to feed animals.
b. Children have permission to feed animals.
5. It must be a new record.
a. It must be a new written or printed account of facts or events.
b. It must be a new gramophone record.
disc.
c. It must be the best performance of a particular feat.
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