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Team Members: Group 6

Group 6 presented on the topic of semantic ambiguity in speaking and writing. They defined semantic ambiguity as when a word or phrase has more than one possible meaning. There are two main types: lexical, which is ambiguity in a single word due to homonymy or polysemy, and structural, which is ambiguity due to sentence structure or placement of modifiers. Common causes were discussed along with examples. Suggestions for students to disambiguate when learning included broadening vocabulary, improving grammar, exposure to English works, and using context clues.

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Chinh Nguyễn
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93 views26 pages

Team Members: Group 6

Group 6 presented on the topic of semantic ambiguity in speaking and writing. They defined semantic ambiguity as when a word or phrase has more than one possible meaning. There are two main types: lexical, which is ambiguity in a single word due to homonymy or polysemy, and structural, which is ambiguity due to sentence structure or placement of modifiers. Common causes were discussed along with examples. Suggestions for students to disambiguate when learning included broadening vocabulary, improving grammar, exposure to English works, and using context clues.

Uploaded by

Chinh Nguyễn
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TEAM MEMBERS

GROUP 6

NGUYỄN PHƯƠNG THI VŨ THỊ LINH NGUYỄN THỊ NGA


SEMANTIC
AMBIGUITY
IN
SPEAKING AND
WRITING
AGENDA
01 02 03 04

DEFINITION OF TYPES OF SEMANTIC THE CAUSES OF LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN


SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY SEMANTIC ENGLISH POEMS AND
AMBIGUITY AMBIGUITY SUGGESTIONS FOR
DISAMBIGUATING
WHEN LEARNING
I. Definition of Semantic
ambiguity
I. Definition of Semantic ambiguity
• Semantic ambiguity is produced by an insertion of an ambiguous
word or phrase in a sentence. (Ubah, J. N. 2017)
• A word or sentence is AMBIGUOUS when it has more than one
sense. A sentence is ambiguous if it has two (or more) paraphrases
which are not themselves paraphrases of each other. ( Hurford, J. R.,
& Heasley, B. (1983))
II. Types of semantic
ambiguity

2 main types in speaking and writing


(Kristiina, M. & Tanja, P. 2012)
2.1 Lexical semantic ambiguity
Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word is a LEXICAL AMBIGUITY
(Hurford, J. R., & Heasley, B. (1983))

• E.g: I saw bats.

This short, simple sentence could be interpreted in four different ways.

- I used a tool with a sharp blade to slice through baseball bats.

- I viewed some nocturnal flying mammals.

- I viewed baseball bats.

- I used a tool with a sharp blade to slice through nocturnal flying mammals.

➡️Viewed without the context of adjacent sentences, this sentence is easily misinterpreted.
2.2. Structural semantic ambiguity

According to Hurford, J. R., & Heasley, B. (1983)


• A sentence which is ambiguous because its words relate to each other in different

ways, even though none of the individual words are ambiguous, is STRUCTURALLY

(or GRAMMATICALLY) AMBIGUOUS.

• E.g1: The man found his friend a pig. (STRUCTURAL)

The sentence intends to explain either the man found a pig for his friend, or the man

found (out) that his friend was a pig himself

➡️This sentence 'a-' causes confusion on the part of speech.


• E.g 2: WHO found the hospitals and charitable institutions. (Grammatical)
➡️This sentence is ambiguous: "found"
- In both cases a transitive verb form.
- May be constructed, grammatically either as a form of 'found’, as present-tense
or, alternatively, as a past-tense utterance containing a form of 'find'.

➡️Solution: WHO have found it impossible to found hospitals and charitable


institutions.
WHO founds the hospitals and charitable institutions.
III. The causes of semantic
ambiguity

Typical source of Typical source of


Lexical ambiguity Structural Ambiguity
1. Typical source of Lexical ambiguity
Lexical Ambiguity occurs due to polysemy and homonymy
• Homonymy
- Mai Ngoc Chu , et al . ( 2008 ) present that homonymy are lexical items
that are formally identical in phonetically but different in meanings
- Lyons , J. ( 1982 ) identifies homonyms as a term used in semantics for
lexical items that are identical in spelling and pronunciation but have
different meanings
1. Typical source of Lexical ambiguity

Homonymy
- Examples:
• She’s going to write a report
• She’s right about thomas having a new apartment
→ write and right are not identical in spelling, they pronounced /raɪt/.
- write implies to make letters or numbers on a surface, especially
using a pen or a pencil
- right means correct in your opinion or judgement.
1. Typical source of Lexical ambiguity

• Polysemy
-Falkum , L. L. ( 2011 ) defines that a single word form can be associated with
several different meanings

-Lyons , J. ( 1995 ) expresses that polysemy designates a situation in which a single


word has a set of related meanings
1. Typical source of Lexical ambiguity

Polysemy
-Example: a house

family
home
where something was
first done

a home town or
country
1. Typical source of Lexical ambiguity

=> The intended meaning can be understood by the context.


For example:
“We saw her duck when we visited her last month. She has made a special pond in the
garden to keep it.” – Duck here refers to an animal.
2.Typical source of Structural Ambiguity
Structural Ambiguity occurs due to the structure of the sentence.
a. The careless use of language
EX: They are eating apples.
“they” – whether people or animals – is engaged in the activity of eating apples?
Or the apples are the kind of apples that are best for eating raw rather than for cooking
in sauces or pies?
-> - The combinations of words that can be interpreted in more than one way or the
structure of the sentence that allows for more than one meaning.
2.Typical source of Structural Ambiguity
b. Placement of modifiers
When modifiers are misplaced, the sentence can be interpreted to mean something other
than what the writer intended.
- Example:
• Our yearbook comes out in June. It sells for one dollar.
• Our yearbook, which sells for one dollar, comes out in June.
When the two sentences are joined by subordination, making one point less important
than the other, it becomes the adjective clause that sells for one dollar and is placed right
after the noun yearbook.
2.Typical source of Structural Ambiguity

=> The intended meaning can be understood by the prosodic features such as
stress, intonation, etc.
LEXICAL AMBIGUITY IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE
AND
SUGGESTIONS FOR
DISAMBIGUATING WHEN
LEARNING
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

''Rosencrantz: He does confess he feels himself distracted;


But from what cause he will by no means speak.''

The purpose of ambiguity in Hamlet is


to create intrigue and to make Hamlet a
more fascinating and mysterious
character.
The poem “A drinking song”

The word “lift” means to raise somebody/ Wine comes in at the mouth
something or be raised to a higher position or level. And love comes in at the eye; That's all
However, it could be misunderstood as a machine we shall know for truth Before we
that carries people or goods up and down to grow old and die.
different levels in a building or a mine because of I lift the glass to my mouth,
its similarity to the word “lift” seen as a noun. I look at you, and I sigh.
Purpose of Ambiguity

• To disguise a character’s true intentions or to mislead the reader for the


purpose of mystery.
• To drive readers, listeners, or observers toward a deeper, more personal
meaning than might be conveyed by the words or images used in a piece of
prose, a poem, or a work of art.
SUGGESTIONS FOR DISAMBIGUATING WHEN
LEARNING
01 02

Broaden their vocabulary enormously and The students also improve their grammar through
efficiently plus word meaning different exercises on course books, work books,
exercises on the internet.
Knowledge of the spoken form of a word
Knowledge of the written form of a word
Knowledge of the parts in a word that have meaning
Knowledge of the link between a particular form and a meaning
Knowledge of the concepts a word may possess and the items it can
refer to
Knowledge of the vocabulary that is associated with a word
Knowledge of a word's grammatical functions
Knowledge of a word's collocations
Knowledge of a word's register and frequency
SUGGESTIONS FOR DISAMBIGUATING WHEN
LEARNING
03
"I’d talk you into many things,
I’d make you see the sea.
We would buy some wood
The students could enrich their Pay by cheque, which you would check And build an arc upon an ark.
vocabulary through English films, And you’d, set sail with me!
stories, poetic works and pun. Whether we had the weather or not
We’d sail a week, and you’d feel so weak You’ll beg me for dry land!
And so, we’d end the feat on our two feet And, tow; toe-to toe.
Until ashore, we land."
References
• Ubah, J. N. (2017b, July 21). Semantic ambiguity in Owere Igbo
https://www.academia.edu/33983924/Semantic_ambiguity_in_Owere_Igbo_pdf
• Empson, W. (1973) Seven Types Of Ambiguity. (second Edition) Middlesex,
England: Pelican Books
• Kristiina, M. & Tanja, P. 2012.Detecting semantic ambiguity alternative readings in
treebanks Helsinki: University of Helsinki
• Hurford, J. R., & Heasley, B. (1983). Semantics: A coursebook. Cambridge
[Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press.
Thank you for
listening

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