Syntactic ambiguity
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Syntactic ambiguity is a property of sentences which may be reasonably interpreted in more than one way, or reasonably interpreted to mean more than one thing. Ambiguity may or may not involve one word having two parts of speech or homonyms.
Syntactic ambiguity arises not from the range of meanings of single words, but from the relationship between the words and clauses of a sentence, and the sentence structure implied thereby. When a reader can reasonably interpret the same sentence as having more than one possible structure, the text is equivocal and meets the definition of syntactic ambiguity.
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[edit] Contrast
Syntactic ambiguity can be contrasted with semantic ambiguity. The former represents multiple ways to infer the underlying structure of an entire sentence. The latter represents multiple ways to define individual words within a sentence[1][2].
[edit] Examples
Here are some examples:
- Bear left at zoo. (Do you turn left when you get to the zoo, or did someone leave a bear there?)
- I'm going to sleep. ("Going" can be a verb with destination "sleep" or an auxiliary indicating near future. So it can mean "I am (now) falling asleep" or "I am (in the future) intending to sleep".)
- The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, the prophet. (Which of the three is the prophet?)
- British left waffles on Falklands (Did the British leave waffles behind, or was there waffling by the British Left?)
- The cow was found by a stream by a farmer. (Did the farmer find the cow near the stream? Or was the cow found near a stream that was near a farmer? Or did the stream find the cow near a farmer?)
- Monty flies back to front. (Monty returns to the frontline; or Monty flies backwards?)
- Flying planes can be dangerous. (Either flying planes is dangerous, or flying planes are dangerous.)
- The Electric Light Orchestra (An orchestra of electric lights, or a light orchestra that's electric)
- I know whom John knows. (Either I am acquainted with the same people as John is, or I know who John's acquaintances are.)
- They are hunting dogs. (Either "they" are hunting for dogs, or those dogs are a type known as "hunting dogs".)
(The following is actually an example of scope ambiguity -- which operator is logically 'above' the other. Some linguistic theories consider them syntactic ambiguities, while other linguistic theories consider them semantic ambiguities.)
- Someone ate every tomato. (Either some one person ate all of the tomatoes, or for each tomato there is some one person who ate it--Sally ate one, John ate one, etc.)
A surgeon general's warning on packs of cigarettes in the United States reads, "Quitting smoking now greatly reduces your risk of cancer." (Quitting smoking today will reduce your risk of cancer; It is now the case (but was not in the past) that quitting smoking reduces the chance of cancer)
A warning on London buses for fare dodging reads "Failure to travel with a valid ticket for the whole of your journey may result in a fine." (You must have a valid ticket for the full journey or you will be fined, but it can be interpreted to mean that if you had a valid ticket for part of your journey, you won't be fined)
A noteworthy example in the field of computer natural language processing is Time flies like an arrow. Although humans unambiguously understand it to mean "Time flies in the same way that an arrow does," it could also mean:
- measure the speed of flying insects like you would measure that of an arrow (thus interpreted as an imperative) - i.e. (You should) time flies as you would (time) an arrow.;
- measure the speed of flying insects like an arrow would (this example is also in the imperative mood)- i.e. (You should) time flies in the same way that an arrow would (time them).;
- measure the speed of flying insects that are like arrows - i.e. Time those flies that are like arrows;
- all of a type of flying insect, "time-flies," collectively enjoy a single arrow (compare Fruit flies like a banana);
- each of a type of flying insect, "time-flies," individually enjoys a different arrow (similar comparison applies);
(As Groucho Marx is said to have observed, "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.")
In legal disputes, courts may be asked to interpret the meaning of syntactic ambiguities in statutes or contracts. In some instances, arguments asserting highly unlikely interpretations have been deemed frivolous.
[edit] See also
- Ambiguity
- Garden path sentence
- List of linguistic example sentences
- Natural language processing
- Paraprosdokian
- Transderivational search
