{"id":396,"date":"2019-06-11T10:24:33","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T10:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp13.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=396"},"modified":"2019-06-12T07:28:40","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T07:28:40","slug":"ambiguity","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp13\/chapter\/ambiguity\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambiguity"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n

1.<\/span>\u00a0Ambiguity<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2.<\/span>Learning Outcome.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3.<\/span>Introduction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

4.<\/span>Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

5.<\/span>Common examples of Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

6.<\/span>Various causes of Ambigutiy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

6.1.<\/span>Polysemy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

6.2.<\/span>Homonymy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

6.3.<\/span>Punctuation and pause.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

7.<\/span>Types of Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

7.1.<\/span>Lexical Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

7.2.<\/span>Syntactic or structural Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

7.3.<\/span>Semantic Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

8.<\/span>The advantage of Ambiguity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

9.<\/span>Function and Significance of Ambiguity in Literature.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

10.<\/span>Examples of Ambiguity in Literature.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

11.<\/span>Ambiguity and Linguistics.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

12.<\/span>Conclusion\/ Summary.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n

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Learning outcome:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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This module deals with Ambiguity, a major component in Semantics, one of the four significant wings of Linguistics. Also other parameters which causes ambiguity, its types, the purpose of Ambiguity, when and how to avoid ambiguity, its advantages etc..., will be discussed in the module to enhance the holistic understanding of the concept. References, List of websites and YouTube videos will help them study and analyze the concept\u00a0in-depth\u00a0and plays a vital role in promoting further study regarding the concept. Multiple choice questions, True or false and Fill in the blanks will help them\u00a0self-evaluate\u00a0themselves of their knowledge and understanding of the concept. Moreover for their better understanding, examples are provided wherever necessary.<\/p>\r\n

Introduction: Ambiguity:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Languages are essential tools for human to communicate with each other and record and transfer information everyday; it is difficult to imagine the situation without language delivery. However, a natural language is not so perfectly designed to transfer all the information in an expected way.<\/p>\r\n

More or less, some flaws in a language are inevitable, such as the ambiguity of a language which causes confusion in people's common utterances. Generally speaking, there are often certain ambiguous words and sentences appearing in human's utterances and acquiring more precise clarification from speakers.<\/p>\r\n

Different interpretations of the same utterance may result in various interpretations and the difficulty of comprehension of listeners. It is, actually, a quite common phenomenon among different languages. This kind of possible different interpretations is technically called \u201cAmbiguity\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

Ambiguity<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Ambiguity is a type of\u00a0uncertainty\u00a0of\u00a0meaning\u00a0in which several interpretations are\u00a0plausible.\u00a0It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement whose\u00a0intended\u00a0meaning cannot be definitively resolved according to a rule or process with a finite number of steps. (The \u201cambi<\/span>\u201d-\u00a0<\/span>part of the name reflects an idea of\u00a0\"two\"\u00a0as in two meanings.)<\/p>\r\n

The concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with\u00a0vagueness.\u00a0In ambiguity, specific and distinct interpretations are permitted (although some may not be immediately obvious), whereas with information that is vague, it is difficult to form any interpretation at the desired level of specificity.<\/p>\r\n

Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity. For example, the same piece of information may be ambiguous in one context and unambiguous in another. Moreover, Ambiguity plays a major role in\u00a0Semantics\u00a0<\/span>(i.e. Meaning)(one of the four major wings in Linguistics)<\/p>\r\n

Common Examples of Ambiguity:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Below are some common examples of ambiguity:<\/p>\r\n\r\n