6 Questions
What is the term used to describe a situation when a word has two or more possible meanings?
Lexical ambiguity
Which of the following is an example of a sentence with lexical ambiguity?
Juan is sitting on a trunk.
What distinguishes an active sentence from a passive sentence in terms of linguistic analysis?
Number of surface structures
Which sentence has one surface structure but two deep structures due to having more than one meaning?
He is a Japanese culinary professor.
How can active sentences like 'The pitcher threw the ball in the field' be represented in different surface structures without changing the meaning?
'The ball was thrown by the pitcher in the field.'
What type of ambiguity arises when a word can represent multiple concepts such as financial institution and river bank?
Semantic ambiguity
Study Notes
Ambiguity in Language
- A situation where a word has two or more possible meanings is described as lexical ambiguity.
- The sentence "The bank will give you a loan" is an example of lexical ambiguity, as "bank" can refer to a financial institution or the side of a river.
Active and Passive Sentences
- Active sentences are distinguished from passive sentences in terms of linguistic analysis by the doer of the action being the subject, whereas in passive sentences, the receiver of the action is the subject.
- Active sentences can be represented in different surface structures without changing the meaning, such as "The pitcher threw the ball in the field" and "The ball was thrown in the field by the pitcher".
Deep Structures
- A sentence with one surface structure but two deep structures due to having more than one meaning is an example of structural ambiguity.
- This occurs when a sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways, leading to different meanings.
Types of Ambiguity
- Semantic ambiguity arises when a word can represent multiple concepts, such as "bank" referring to a financial institution or a river bank.
Test your understanding of lexical ambiguity with sentences containing words with multiple meanings. Identify the various interpretations of words like 'trunk', 'bank', and 'bat'. Explore how this form of ambiguity can lead to confusion in language comprehension.
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