On Different Types of English Ambiguity
【Abstract】 Ambiguity is a wide phenomenon in all languages, including in English. Sometimes, ambiguity can cause lots of problems if people fail to handle the ambiguity in English properly. Thus, learning English ambiguity turns to be rather important and rational solutions to erase ambiguity help people better convey and receive information. This paper analyses different types of “ambiguity” in English from aspects of the phonological, the lexical, the syntactic and the pragmatic, and illustrates several approaches to eliminate ambiguity.
【摘要】在所有语言中都会出现歧义现象,英语也是如此。有时,英语中的歧义会给人们带来许多麻烦,如果人们没有正确处理出现的歧义。因此,学习英语中出现的歧义非常重要。 使用合适的方法消除英语中的歧义可以帮助人们更好地接收和传递信息。本文从语音方面、词汇方面、结构方面和语用方面分析了英语中出现的歧义。
【Key words】 English; ambiguity; reasons; solutions
1.Introduction: As we look up a word, it is common to find a single word with different meanings. For the variance of words meaning, when we want to convey certain
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Different types of ambiguity 3.1 Phonological ambiguity In linguistics, phonological ambiguity is a type of ambiguity that arises out of the fact that words sound identical, but in fact have different meanings. Besides, phonological ambiguity only occurs in spoken English(邱淑德 英语歧义1998). There are three main reasons of phonological ambiguity: intonation ambiguity, liaison ambiguity and homophony ambiguity
3.1.1 Intonation
Different from Chinese, a tone language, English is an intonation language. As a musical element of an utterance, intonation is defined as the variation of the voice pitch when speaking. In spoken English, when people say words with more than one syllable or sentence with different intonation placements, ambiguity usually occurs for people’s different perceptions of information. Observing the following example with different intonation:
(1)a. She has bought a car in Beijing. b. SHE has bought a car in Beijing. c. She HAS BOUGHT a car in Beijing. d. She has bought A car in
The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.
After identifying the basic structure of a message, a critical thinker must ask, “What words or phrases are ambiguous?” (p. 40) An ambiguous word or phrase is one that has multiple possible meanings. Ambiguous words or phrases in an argument create the need for clarification of the meaning before a reader can fully evaluate the argument.
Intonation is the level of stress you place on certain words which ultimately effect/ change the meaning of what is being said.
When it comes to the meaning of words we can view them in two levels, denotation and connotation. Denotation is basically the word’s literal meaning. It is exactly what one can expect and understand from the description out of a dictionary and is considered concrete and tangible as it is the closest of an objective description of reality. Connotation on the other hand is much more complex and abstract as it can involved multiple factors such as personal or cultural experiences and values in addition to basic meaning. Hence connotative meaning can varies based on the factors surrounding it.
Based on the use of language,the kinds of adjustments that I can make about is that the whole time while he was talking to Sonia, his actions towards her screamed out what social sciences call, the “horns effect.” A negative judgement about a person based off of your first impression of them. mick continues to talk to Sonya very pushy. And most of the time she listens silently. Which is a nonverbal cue that she doesn't want to talk to him or see him. His syntax is the workings of a jerk. For instance telling the waiter “Hey, honey, bring me a cup of this, would ya?” Also by saying hey baby, don't forget about that coffee. Nother judgment about Nick is that he has poor listening skills. Sonya tells him more than once that she would like to be
Living simply and with just enough to get by, the Brangwens are a hardworking folk who cling to a strict adherence to the expected gender roles of the late 1800’s English countryside. While the husband feels satisfied by his grueling work in the fields, his wife remains unfulfilled by her role of managing the home. She craves to explore the unknown, beyond the constraints of their family farm and one-dimensional life. In D.H Lawrence’s The Rainbow, the use of syntax and figurative language highlights the contrast between the roles of men and women in the late nineteenth century and exposes the wife’s yearning for knowledge and transcendence.
Meaning has a main issue of mind, pertaining to perception and thought. Perception of a particular word, appeals to a common generalization that relates to the word/words spoken. The so called common ground of generalization is what brings about communication through words, and at the same time a generalization of the word compromised. You can’t see, feel, touch, or know that perception is even really there, with the particulars having the ability to obtain
Ambiguity is uncertainty. The best way to react to ambiguity is to be humble and acknowledge that there is a doubt and try to find the correct answer. Ambiguity is faced also in the network and network security. When building a VPN connection both peers can be active and reachable, but no one on the other side can pinpoint a LAN in the other peer. When in doubt always try to research and never come to a conclusion. The best way to deal with ambiguity is to find root causes and then provide countermeasures. You can never be too smart and ambiguity comes unexpectedly. like Michael Dell states" never be the smartest person in the Room
The information included here demonstrated how I have carried out activities that work toward meeting my student learning goals. I have carried out daily reviews of the students vocabulary using a variety of strategies such as Cold Call review, Smartboard games ( dice, balloon pop, spinner and Jeopardy )No Opt Out flash card and board games . These strategies have provided reinforcement to the student learning the vocabulary words. I did have to supply visual aides and use shorter student friendly definitions when introducing new vocabulary. I found that I needed to use more Spanish cognates and be sure the simplified language I used, my ELL students would know. Many times it was necessary to reinforce the language and ensure that each student
Conversely, ambiguity is not an element of effective language. It refers to the lack of clarity and limited information presented. Ambiguity can confuse the reader because it refers to more than one subject. For example, it is getting near the time that the movie is going to start. To achieve functional writing ambiguity must be avoided because the reader may find it difficult to understand what the writer is describing.
Langston Hughes’s Soul Gone Home depicts a struggling relationship between a mother and her son. Ronnie, the son, has just died, and the manuscript portrays a scene of his true feelings, now that he is dead and can speak his mind. His harsh words hit the mother in the heart, as she now is being accused of maternal ignorance. However, the words don’t paint the whole picture. Hughes’s dark imagery is emphasized through the exaggerated gestures and stage directions he dictates, conveying the complicated and often ambiguous feelings about the relationship between the mother and her child.
To understand this idea to a greater degree, I've split responses for human searches of meanings into four sections:
Before analyzing its first worth noting how language sounds works. Phonemes are a unit of sound languages. For words, there are also distinctive
For this assessment I have been required to compare English with another language. I have decided to choose Mandarin as my language of choice. A major elements of languages will be compared in this essay. That being phonology. Phonology is defined as being “the study of the way speech sounds form patterns”.(Victoria Fromkin 2009). As (Hammond 1999) describes, every spoken language has a unique system whereby sounds are organised. This unique pattern of pattern can be termed phonology and varies widely in geographical and social differences.
Whenever we are reading or listening, we need to force ourselves to search for ambiguous words or phrases. A term or phrase is ambiguous when the meaning is so uncertain in the context of the argument that we need further clarification before we judge. When someone is trying to persuade us to believe or do something, that person must be responsible for clarifying any ambiguity before we consider the worth of the reasoning. Ambiguity is the existence of multiple possible meanings for a word or phrase. When determining which terms or phrases are ambiguous use the stated issue as a clue for possible key terms. To locate key terms we must review the issue for possible key terms, look for crucial words or phrases within the reasons and conclusion, keep an eye out for abstract words or phrases and use reverse role-playing to determine how someone might define certain words and phrases differently.