Ambiguity in English - 572 Words

Ambiguity in English Ambiguity refers to the ambiguous meanings of certain sentence or word in the written form or in the verbal form. Ambiguity is common in the natural language and is also one of the most important subjects for the investigation on language. It may hinder people from conducting a smooth communication since different people would interpret the sentence or word in different ways because of ambiguity. With the development and diversification of language, ambiguity is inevitable in most of the languages and English is no exception. From the perspective of semasiology, when a sentence or a word can be interpreted in two or more ways, there is an ambiguity. There are numerous of ambiguous structures and ambiguous sentences in English. Whenever people talk or write, they would like to try to make their ideas clearly expressed and understood, which make the investigation on the ambiguity necessary. Ambiguity is a unique language phenomenon, which is prevalent in many languages. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the creation and formation of ambiguity. In the daily life, people would choose to state their mind, convey their message, express their feelings and share their experience through different pronunciations, tones, intonations, vocabularies and grammatical structures. In the process of a communication, for certain need, people have to communicate their thought through with help of body language so as to be understood clearly, which helps to explainShow MoreRelatedWhat Distingishes Human and Animal Communication?1272 Words   |  5 Pagesthe same language. Human language Animal communication system Is descriptive and narrative Non descriptive and narrative Recurrent Repetitive Cognitive and behavioural Only behavioural Has grammatically Has no grammatically 2. State how modern English is being influenced by other languages. Support your answer with concrete examples. (5 marks) LANGUAGES, like cultures, are rarely sufficient unto themselves. It may move on the trade relations or it may consist of a borrowing or interchange of artRead MoreLanguage Paper1544 Words   |  7 PagesLanguage Paper Michelle Langmesser Psy-360 June 6, 2010 Eboni Sheilds Definition of Language â€Å"Many definitions of language have been suggested. An English Phonetician and language scholar, Henry Sweet stated, Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts† (language, 2010). The American linguists George L. Trager and Bernard Bloch have the following definitionRead MoreThe Garden Path Effect1741 Words   |  7 Pagespsychology who studied the garden path effect is Lyn Frazier who is a Linguistics professor at the University of Massachusetts. His garden path model of syntactic parsing influenced many linguists in their studies about the lexical and syntactical ambiguity in our language. In his book â€Å"The sausage machine†, Frasier claims that the longer a sentence, the more grammatical rules needed to be applied. With each word added to a simple phrase, the structure of the sentence becomes more complicated and moreRead Mor eThe Legal And Un Language1483 Words   |  6 Pagespattern of writing of numerous levels, including: linguistic level (lexical, syntactic and textual), cultural level and speech acts. Both Arabic and English have their distinctive approaches in regarding the technicalities used with such documentary translation, necessitating the importance of mastering such techniques while translating from Arabic to English or vice versa. 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The doctrine of precedent is an essential principle of English legal system, which is a form of reasoning, interpreting and decision making formed by case law. It suggests that precedents not only have persuasive authority but must also be shadowed when similar situations arise. Any rule or principle declared by a higher court must be followed in future cases. In shortRead MoreWhat Is The Problem Of Vowel From The Vowel Chart?930 Words   |  4 Pagesto ambiguities like the decision in between [e], [É›], and [É ª] in the word â€Å"urge†, or the deciding w hether the second vowel in â€Å"cups† really was a [É”]. However, once the presence of [ʉ] in â€Å"gold†, which was made present after the formant chart was drawn, enabled us to reject both Hungarian and Uzbek. The decision to reject Uzbek was made stronger when we discovered the presence of certain vowels, [É”] and [à ¸], that were not present in the phonological inventory of Uzbek. However some ambiguity stillRead MoreEssay on U214 Tma011165 Words   |  5 PagesLate Modern English, a global language spoken around the world by over 2 billion people can trace its roots to the Germanic language introduced by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the 5th century. Before the arrival of the Anglo Saxons, many parts of Britain were bilingual Celtic-Latin speakers, although very few traces of Celtic remain in the English language – other than in place names, for example Avon and Ouse – which derive from the Celtic word for ‘water’, and words foun d more in local dialects thanRead MoreThe Frozen Patterns Of Language1665 Words   |  7 Pagessentences are the opening of this contracts such as Ø ¨Ã˜ ¹Ã˜ ¯ Ø ­Ã™â€¦Ã˜ ¯ Ø §Ã™â€žÃ™â€žÃ™â€¡ ÙˆØ §Ã™â€žÃ˜ µÃ™â€žÃ˜ §Ã˜ © ÙˆØ §Ã™â€žÃ˜ ³Ã™â€žÃ˜ §Ã™â€¦-Ø ¹Ã™â€žÃ™Å  Ø ±Ã˜ ³Ã™Ë†Ã™â€ž Ø §Ã™â€žÃ™â€žÃ™â€¡ â€Å"After praising God and prayer and peace be upon His Messenger† (2015, p.60). In this example, the word Ø §Ã™â€žÃ™â€žÃ™â€¡ is repeated. Unlike Arabic version, in the English translation â€Å"His† is a pronoun used instead of the word â€Å"God†. 2.2.3. Formal Words Formal words, according to El-Farahaty, is a style of language where formality exists widely in forms of political contexts and â€Å"honorary titles† (2015, p.62). ForRead MoreChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart Essay1347 Words   |  6 Pagesdelivering a message adequately. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is structured in fluent English, quality vocabulary and professional self-expression. However, Achebe enhances artistic qualities in his novel to help the reader understand the drive behind Things Fall Apart. Achebe’s background of inaugural grounding in Igbo (speech, written) as the imperative language of instruction in education together with an introduction to English at the age of eight gives him the powerful blend of the two cultures. For instance