歧义现象分析

歧义现象分析（精选6篇）

篇1：歧义现象分析

论英语歧义现象的句法分析

歧义是语言中的一种普遍现象,英语中的歧义句更是屡见不鲜.本文凭借多年的`教学实践,从Chomsky的深层结构为切入点,以大量实例对英语中歧义现象产生的原因作了比较详细的分类和阐述,并且进一步提出了消除歧义的方法.

作 者：王浩  作者单位：浙江工商职业技术学院 刊 名：科技信息（学术版） 英文刊名：SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION 年，卷(期)： “”(32) 分类号：H3 关键词：英语歧义句   句法分析   消除歧义  

篇2：歧义现象分析

略说歧义现象

歧义是一种有趣的语言现象.蓄意歧义的巧妙使用,有时可以达到特殊的交际效果.而无意歧义的产生,则会造成交际活动的障碍.文章介绍了几种积极的歧义应用以及公文中产生的几种无意歧义情形,以期引起我们在实际的.语言使用中,发现歧义的存在,了解歧义的发生规律,将奥妙积极的歧义为我所用.

作 者：沈密婷 作者单位：苏州大学文学院语言学与应用语言学,江苏,苏州,215014刊 名：读与写(教育教学刊)英文刊名：READING AND WRITING年，卷(期)：4(10)分类号：H13关键词：蓄意歧义 无意歧义

篇3：英汉双语歧义现象对比分析

1. 英汉双语歧义现象溯因

1.1 语音层面

英汉语的歧义现象, 形成因素之一就是语音歧义。语音歧义是指在谈话中由于语音有歧义而使听者可能产生多种理解。

英语中的连读和同音异义词都会导致语音歧义。在口头交流中, 连读可使听者对话语产生不同的理解。例如:“Did you[getəpleit]?”对听者而言, 这句话既可理解为“Did you get up late?”也可理解为“Did you get a plate?再如:There is a[greiteip], 也可以有“great ape”和“grey tape”两种解读。

由此可见, 语音与意义没有必然的联系, 不同意义的词可以有相同的发音。英语中的同音异义也很容易造成语义含糊, 使听者难以把握确切词义。例如, “I haven’t made a/seil/all week”, 既可理解为“I haven’t made a sale all week”, 又可理解为“I haven’t made a sail all week”。

汉语中的语音歧义主要由停顿和同音异义词所引起。一句话的停顿位置不同, 句子意思也有很大差异。例如“过往行人等不得在此大小便”。可解读为:“过往行人等, 不得在此大小便”。也可以理读为, “过往行人等不得, 在此大小便”。汉语中的同音异义词也不少, 由此导致的歧义更是比比皆是。例如, “会议终止/中止了。”“她正在洗澡/洗枣。”

丰富的语音知识和应用能力有助于我们对语言进行正确地理解和表达。反之, 不了解语音规律, 发音不清或不准确就会造成理解上的困难。

1.2 词汇层面

英语和汉语都有一词多义现象。在语境不明的情况下, 很难判断句子的确切含义, 从而造成歧义。

英语中存在大量多义词, 例如, “Are you engaged?”一句中“engaged”有两个意思:“忙”和“订婚”。“I came to the bank just now.”既可以理解为“我刚才去了银行”, 也可理解为“我刚才去了河岸边。”又如“He is a bachelor.”“bachelor”有“单身汉”的意思, 也有“学士”的意思。此外, 英语中很多单词有多种词性, 这也会导致句子歧义。例如, “She looked over my shoulder.”中的“over”若用作副词, 那么“look over”是一个短语, 意思为“仔细查看”;若用作介词, 则表示“从…的上面看”, 与“my shoulder”组成介词短语。歧义由此而生。

汉语的一词多义现象也尤为普遍。例如:“今天下午我们买了很多菜。”“菜”有“蔬菜”和“菜肴”两个意思, 所以句子就有了两种不同的理解。再如, “你吃饭了没?”这一句中的“饭”即可理解为“餐饭”, 又可理解为“米饭”。

1.3 句法层面

语句成分在整个句子中的作用是摇摆不定的, 没有明确的修饰对象, 会形成不同的句法功能。语言使用中, 我们发现有些句法结构有多种解释, 句法歧义现象相当普遍。句法歧义也叫语法歧义或结构歧义。

英语中某些句子由于句法关系不清而产生歧义, 如:“Flying planes can be dangerous.”中的“Flying planes”既是动宾结构也是限定性结构。因此该句可有两种解释1) 开飞机可能是危险的。2) 飞行的飞机可能是危险的。再如, “Jim hit the man with the stick.”“with the stick”这个介词短语所修饰的成分不明确, 导致听者可有两种理解1) 吉姆用棍子打了那个人。2) 吉姆打了那个拿着棍子的人。

否定词not的辖域不清也会引起英语句子的句法歧义。“I didn’t reject the proposal because it was put forward by him.”中的歧义在于, 否定的是主句中的动词, 还是后面的原因从句。此句可译为“我并不是因为他提出这个建议才反对”, 也可译为“因为是他提出的建议, 所以我没有反对”。

句法歧义在汉语中也很常见。汉语的重意合的特征决定了汉语句子的核心构架部分有时较难辨别, 而引起歧义。例如,

1.主要谓语动词不明确

汉语主谓关系松散, 有时很难界定哪个为主要谓语动词。汉语连动式若有两个动词, 都可成为主要谓语动词。如“我打电话告诉他具体情况。”若“打电话”为主要动词部分, “告诉”即表目的, “我打电话是为了告诉他具体情况。”若“告诉”为主要动词, “打电话”就表方式, “我通过打电话的方式告诉他具体情况。”

2. 主谓语之间、谓语与其他成分之间界限不清

英语句子结构中, 主、谓界限清楚明确, 可做非此即彼的分析, 而汉语没有那样严整的结构, 句子板块是松散的、流动的, 主谓格局有时很难把握。例如:“爸爸知道/没关系。” (“爸爸知道”为主语, “没关系”为谓语) “爸爸/知道没关系.” (“爸爸”为主语, “知道没关系”为谓语)

3.修饰性关系不明确, 造成歧义。

歧义的产生不仅和成分之间的句法关系相关, 有时修饰性的关系词也会导致歧义。如, “咬了猎人的狗”, 该结构既可以是动宾结构也可以是限定性结构。理解为“咬了猎人的/狗”或“咬了/猎人的狗”。

2. 语言歧义对交际的影响

在语言实际运用中, 歧义会产生消极作用或积极作用。若说话缺乏歧义意识, 用词、造句不够谨慎, 致使歧义在不恰当的时候出现, 就会产生消极后果;反之, 若表达中学会巧妙运用歧义, 也会收到意想不到的积极效果。

2.1 歧义的消极作用

歧义导致语意不清, 令人不解。例如, 有一报纸标题为“Marshall Calls on Congress to Help Prostrate Europe”。标题中“Prostrate”一词有两个词性, 即形容词和动词, 既可用来修饰“Europe” (即“马歇尔呼吁议会帮助受挫的欧洲”) , 也可把“Europe”当作宾语 (即马歇尔呼吁议会来帮助挫败欧洲) , 结果令读者费解。

合同中的歧义甚至会导致纠纷或损失。有一份英文合同, 约定结束聘用的提前通知期为7天, 原文为:“Any party may terminate the contract by giving the other party a written notice 7 days in advance.”“terminate”是“终止、结束”的意思, 但在一些英文版合同中, 有时也可代替revoke, 作“解除”解。这就造成了两种理解, 一是提前7天告诉你, 合同期到了, 要续约;二是提前7天告诉你, 你被解雇了。

汉语中的歧义也会给听者带来理解偏差。例如, 某人乘某路公交车访友新居, 被告知"在火车站前一站下车", 其人在火车站的上一站下车, 结果错了。原来讲话人的意思是火车站的下一站下车。

2.2 歧义的积极作用

言语表达中巧妙地利用歧义, 具有含蓄、凝练、曲折、生动的表达效果。

文学作品中, 恰当地使用歧义的词语或句子, 可使作品语言新颖活泼、诙谐有趣, 对于揭示主题、刻画人物性格等有积极的作用。例如, “In another (cradle) the future historian is lying and doubtless will continue to lie until his earthly mission is ended.” (Mark Twain:Speech on Babies) “在另一个 (摇篮) 里, 那未来的历史学家正躺着 (正撒谎) , 而且无疑将继续躺着 (继续撒谎) , 直到他现在的使命结束。”这里, 作者利用“lie”这个词的两个词义, 使整个句子兼具两层意思, 对某些历史学家进行了尖刻的讽刺。

也有商业广告利用歧义增强效应。例如, 一则推销加拿大威士忌酒的广告是这样写的, “The Unique Spirit of Canada.”意思是“别具风味的加拿大酒”。Spirit一词既是“烈性酒” (常用复数) , 也是“精神” (常用单数) 。因此, 这则广告的隐含意义为“加拿大独特的国家精神”。

制造幽默。许多笑话正是利用歧义现象来达到幽默效果的。例如, Uncle:Do they ring two bells for school?Mary:No, uncle.They ring one bell twice.玛丽把叔叔的提问理解为“你们上课要敲两口钟吗?”, 所以她的回答是“不是的, 叔叔。是同一口钟敲两次。”

汉语利用歧义现象制造幽默的例子也屡见不鲜。一些笑话正是利用了歧义, 达到了绝妙的讽刺效果。此外, 在相声、评书、谜语等我国传统文化形式中, 歧义都起到了重要的作用。

3. 语境与语言歧义

歧义现象在实际的语言交际中, 是可以有效地化解或消除的。语言交际离不开一定的背景, 理解话语不能脱离一定的语境。因此, 语境是影响歧义理解的一个重要因素。根据语用学的有关理论, 语境从狭义来说, 是指词、句、段等的前后可帮助确定其意义的上下文。从广义上来说, 语境还包括交际双方的客观环境 (如交际场所、交际身份、双方的社会和文化背景等) 和认知环境 (如不同的经历、知识等) 。语境可以提供附加信息或修正信息, 缩小词汇和结构的语义选择范围, 帮助读者或听话人正确理解话语的含义, 因而得以消除歧义。有事出于某种需要, 有意把话说得含糊, 制造歧义, 要听者或读者自己去揣摩。除此之外, 要尽量避免歧义。有时歧义难免, 若不能用其他表达方式来代替, 就要提供尽可能充分的语境, 使有歧义的语言单位在这个语境中可以确定它的语义。至于那些因表达不当造成的不合理的歧义, 决不能允许存在。

结语

总之, 语言使用中的歧义现象, 既会给人们带来不必要的麻烦, 也会收到意想不到的积极效果。因此, 一方面应谨慎使用语言, 以避免其消极结果, 另一方面, 也应学会恰当、巧妙地使用歧义, 以发挥其积极的作用。

参考文献

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[4]申小龙.中国句型文化[M].长春:东北师范大学出版社, 1988.

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篇4：歧义现象分析

英语新闻标题歧义的理论分析

（一）英语新闻标题歧义定义

标题对于新闻就像眼睛对于人一样重要，它是新闻内容的集中和概括，它用简约的文字浓缩了新闻报道中最精华、最值得关注的内容。我们都知道“题好一半文”，英语有谚云：“A good beginning is half the battle.”一则好的新闻标题能给新闻报道锦上添花，起到画龙点睛吸引受众注意力的作用。

为了更好地理解英语新闻标题，显然就应该避免英语新闻标题歧义现象的发生。所谓英语新闻标题歧义，指的就是英语新闻标题歧义表达两个或两个以上的意义。歧义是语言的共生属性，是语言中的一种普遍现象。打个比喻来说，歧义就是语言表达中的感冒症状，从逻辑学的角度来看，含糊其词是导致出现谬误和错误推理的重要原因，换句话说，歧义无处不在，不分领域，不分语言。有语言存在就会有歧义。

（二）研究英语新闻标题歧义的必要性分析

长期以来，围绕歧义的研究一直很多，多数语言学家认为歧义是语言的误用，是人们自由交流的一个障碍，应该尽量避免。也有一些语言学家认为如果妙用歧义，会产生积极的效果。对于英语新闻标题来说，本文更赞同前者的观点。一般说来，英语新闻标题应当避免歧义，因为英语新闻标题不是文学作品。英语新闻标题能够很好利用双关毕竟少之又少。当我们试图拟一个双关标题时，一定要确保我们创作的英文新闻标题不存在歧义的问题。

对英语新闻标题的研究也是由来己久，研究大多集中在英语新闻标题的文体特征与语言特点。标题并非与英语新闻一同出现，最早的名为《每日新闻》的现代报纸发行时是没有标题的。英语新闻标题历经了数个世纪的发展才逐渐演变成今天的这种形式。因为标题是报纸的“眼睛”，所以英语新闻标题要求准确、简洁、内容新颖以吸引读者的注意，并使报纸能在竞争日益严峻的社会里生存下来。英文英语新闻标题的特点主要体现在语法和词汇两方面。

“知己知彼，百战不殆”，只有真正理解了英语新闻标题中的歧义，找出引起歧义的原因，才能更好地避免歧义。研究英文英语新闻标题中的歧义对于我们更好地理解和把握英语新闻标题，以及对英语阅读、教学和翻译都具有重要的价值和意义。其实，不管在语言学领域，还是在商业、医学或其他任何领域，歧义一直是各行各业关注的焦点。对歧义的研究具有深刻的理论意义和实际价值。语言学的研究必然包含着歧义现象的研究，而歧义的研究必将推动语言学乃至整个社会的发展。

英语新闻标题的歧义现象分析

（一）词汇歧义

1.语言歧义

语音是语言表达的外在表现，是语言形成的核心内容之一，但是正是因为语音是语言形成的基本内容，又由于语音在组成要素方面有一定的相似性和类似情况发生，从而导致英语语音在表达出来时会形成歧义的现象。英语标题的某些句型、习语形成了相对固定的读法，但是这些语句的读法音位特征在很大程度上要取决于言语的语境、说话人的心理、个人习惯、话语题材等多种因素；音位特征的变化常常影响言语的意义和交际功能。例如在缺乏特定语境的情况下，由于语音形式的局限性，该句即可能被理解为YAO MING had a grade“A”，也可能被理解为YAO MING had a grade，从而造成语音歧义。

2.词汇歧义

词汇歧义指的是当一个词具有不同的语法功能或者不同的意思就会形成歧义。词汇的歧义与短语的歧义具有相同之处，两者都可体现修饰语与中心词的结构关系。尤其是合成词，与相应的短语都含有相同的要素，其前项表示突出特性、功能、形态等，与一般定语相似。比如：a covergirl（封面女郎）是a girl or woman whose picture illustrates cover of magazine，etc.前缀和后缀也为词干增加语法或语义特征；再如：A Celebrity finished the race last Friday.由于race的多义性，句中的“finished the race”可能被歧解为“参加了竞赛”和“消灭了那个种族”两种意思。

（二）句子歧义

句法歧义（syntactic ambiguity）基本含义指的是一个短语或句子的意义存在一个或一个以上的歧义现象。一般来说句法歧义包括两种情况：一类是句子（含短语）中相邻的成分（词或词组），在语义允许的情况下，可以根据不同的句法关系进行多种不同的组合，传达不同的意思；一类是句子相邻成分之间存在着两种或两种以上潜在的语义关系，可以有两种或两种以上的语义解释。本部分讨论的句法歧义是第一种情况。这类歧义主要是由句法结构的不同而产生的。

例如：A little boy came up to his mother.“Ma，”he said，“I have something to tell you. My teacher kissed me.”“Well， were you a good boy and did you kiss her back？”“Of course not！” he denied indignantly，“I kissed her face.”根据上下文，发话者mother说did you kiss her back的原意是：你也吻她了吗？但受话者little boy却将其错误地理解为：你吻她的背了吗？上则对话中的“did you kiss her back？”所指不明确，因而是造成歧义的诱因。

（三）句法结构歧义

英语新闻标题句法的特殊性表现在时态和句式浓缩两个方面。首先，标题中动词时态用法大大简化，几乎都用一般现在时表述新闻。新闻所述的事件多半是刚刚发生、正在发生或将会发生，按英语语法规则应用动词的相应时态。但为了突出新闻报道的新奇感而用现在时。如：Schools Ask Parents for Money Toward Books。读者单纯浏览标题时很难确定新闻事件是已发生的、正在发生的还是将会发生的，会有多种理解。英文标题有时还采用现在分词（短语）表示正进行的动作、动词不定式短语表示未来动作，但常省略助动词，因此造成歧义。如：“Broadway”coming to China中的“coming to China”既可理解为“is coming to China”也可理解为现在分词短语作定语。其次，英语新闻标题句式高度浓缩，主要体现在用标点符号代替词以及用省略方式来凝练语言。

（四）读者自身引发的歧义

新闻标题中有的词汇和语法的多解性是引发歧义的主要原因，而读者的英语程度直接影响他们对标题的理解和判断能力。要避免误解英语新闻标题，读者应尽可能多地熟悉标题小词的词义及标题的句法特征。

英语英语新闻标题以名词性短语居多，很少以动词开首，若是短句，则主谓的单复数一致性直接体现。如：Gender studies become a joking matte中studies应被视为名词。省略是英语新闻标题最显著的句法特点，读者若能明白哪些成分或词语被省掉了，则可避免一些理解上的麻烦。

应对英语新闻标题的歧义现象的策略

（一）语言表达要简洁

语言表达简洁，能避免英语新闻标题的歧义现象，所以要尽量简化英语新闻标题表达中的词汇量，英语新闻讲究所谓的“客观、简约”，要求尽量“简化直白”，但这并不影响记者、编辑在标题中对典故的妙用。新闻标题如果适当地用一些典故、成语，会使整个文章顿时生辉。

（二）标题中尽量使用动词

动词可以有效简化标题词汇的数量，使表达出来的意思没有歧义。动词使新闻标题变得活跃，但它本身必须是一个活跃的词，能最准确、生动地描述新闻事实，因为标题里没有多余的空间来容纳形容词，所有修饰性的内容，包括程度、颜色、感觉等，都必须依靠这个动词来体现。因此，要尽量避免使用“ask”这类平淡的动词和表达含糊的混合动词，例如American government gives views on Mexican’s racism”，如果报道对象“American government”在谴责“Mexican’s racism”时用了很有力很明确的语句，那么就应该避免“gives views”这种含糊的写法。

（三）读者应提高自身的英语阅读水平

总的来看，英语新闻标题的歧义主要为词汇和语法歧义。歧义的产生除与英语新闻标题的句法和语言特点有必然联系外，还与读者对英语语言特点、英语新闻标题特点的了解程度，词汇量的大小及知识面的宽窄有直接关系。所以读者应掌握一定数量的新闻词语并拓宽词义，多熟悉英语新闻标题的句法和语言特点，具备必要的读报背景知识，夯实读报基本功，这样才能尽量避免对英语新闻标题的误解。

作者单位：西安工业大学

篇5：浅析英语语言中的歧义现象

浅析英语语言中的歧义现象

在语义学的研究过程中,我们会发现在词与词,句与句之间存在着同义关系,反义关系和上下义关系.然而,随着研究的逐步深入,我们会发现它们之间还存在着一种特殊关系--歧义.产生歧义现象的原因有很多,本文将从语音、词汇和句法三方面对这一现象进行归纳和论述.

作 者：王丽丽 WANG Li-li 作者单位：中州大学国际教育学院,郑州,450044刊 名：中州大学学报英文刊名：JOURNAL OF ZHONGZHOU UNIVERSITY年，卷(期)：25(6)分类号：H03关键词：同义关系 反义关系 上下义关系 歧义

篇6：歧义现象分析

毕业论文题目：

毕业论文

An Analysis on Ambiguity in English1

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Abstract

Ambiguity is omnipresent in languages.There have been a lot of researches about ambiguity in the past.This paper makes a comprehensive analysis on the ambiguous structures in English and classifies categories of them based on the different causes: phonological ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, structural(grammatical)ambiguity and pragmatic ambiguity.The phenomenon of ambiguity, whenever and wherever it occurs, may directly lead to the comprehension of expression and communication.Phonetic ambiguity, that is, a word or a phrase sounds which has at least two meanings, which occurs only in spoken English but not in written English.Lexical ambiguity might cause much more complicated problems in the understanding of the language, for it exists not only in spoken form but also in written language.Its existence is attributed to certain ambiguous lexical items, namely to polysemous and homonymous words.In written language, the most important ambiguity phenomenon lies in structure.Structural ambiguity is also called grammatical ambiguity, which means “ambiguity caused by the varied interrelationships between words in a sentence.Even though none word is ambiguous, structurally it still generates ambiguity”.Structural ambiguity is often caused by the linear order of words in a sentence.It often takes place in spoken languages as well as in common phonetic materials.Pragmatic ambiguity denotes that the language expresses different purposes or meanings in the real application.Ambiguity analysis can help improve the ability in language understanding and language application.Key Words: phonological ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, structural ambiguity, pragmatic ambiguity

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摘要

歧义现象在语言中无所不在，在过去已有许多相关的研究。这篇论文将对英语中所存在的歧义现象做一个全面的分析。根据不同的原因，英语歧义现象总体来说可分为四大类：语音歧义，词汇歧义，结构歧义（语法歧义）和语用歧义。不论在任何时间任何地点出现歧义现象，都会对人们的理解和交流造成很大的困难。语音歧义是说一个单词或一个词组听起来至少有两个意思，这种现象只会出现在口语中。词汇歧义是指由于一词多意或同形异义的原因给人们的理解造成了许多困难。这种现象可存在于口语和书面语中。在书面语中，最重要的歧义是结构歧义，也叫语法歧义，它是由词与词之间不同的关系所造成的。即使一个句子中所有的单词都没有歧义，句子的结构也会造成歧义。语用歧义是指说话人在特定的语境中或上下文中使用不确定的或模糊的或间接的话语向听话人同时表达数种言外行为或言外之意。

关键词：语音歧义，词汇歧义，结构歧义，语用歧义

毕业设计（论文）

Contents Introduction………… ……………………………………………………6 1.1 Definition of Ambiguity in English....................................................................6 1.2 Importance of the Present Study……………………………………………….6 Phonetic Ambiguity……………………………………………………….6 2.1 Phonetic ambiguity caused by homophones……………………………………7 2.2 Phonetic ambiguity caused by phrases…………………………………………7 2.3 Phonetic ambiguity caused by different breath groups and different intonation.7 2.4 Phonetic ambiguity caused by stress…………………………………………...7 Lexical Ambiguity………………………………………………………...8

3.1 Lexical Ambiguity caused by homonym………………………………………8 3.2 Lexical Ambiguity caused by polysemy……………………………………….9 Structural ambiguity…………………………………………………….10

4.1 Sententially structural ambiguity…………………………………………......10 4.2 Phrasally structural ambiguity………………………………………………...12 Pragmatic ambiguity…………………………………………………….13

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5.1 Pragmatic ambiguity caused by implication……………………………13 5.2 Pragmatic ambiguity caused by transcultural background………………..14 Conclusion………………………………………………………….15

毕业设计（论文）Introduction

1.1 Definition of Ambiguity in English Ambiguity, as is defined in the Webster‟s Third International Dictionary(许素波，Types of Ambiguity in English，1999-04), is “the condition of admitting of two or more meanings, of being understood in more than one way, or of referring to two or more things at the same time.” In ordinary books on linguistics, it is generally defined roughly as linguistic phenomenon that a word phrase or clause can have more than one interpretation.Ambiguity, as a pervasive feature of the English language, existing in both spoken and written forms, and occurs for a variety of reasons, such as the phonetic reason that in connected speech, two or more different strings of lexical items happen to take on the same phonological form as a result of sound liaison, the lexical reason, for instance, ambiguity can be given rise to owing to the homonymy and polysemy of the vocabulary, and the structural reason, namely ambiguity can also be attributed to different grammatical analysis of a phrase or clause.Ambiguity can exist in both spoken and written forms of English and arise through a variety of ways.From a purely linguistic point of view, however, ambiguity can be accounted for by mainly four factors: the phonetic, the lexical, the structural, and the pragmatic, hence four types of ambiguity occur: phonetic ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, structural ambiguity, and pragmatic ambiguity.1.2 Importance of the Present Study Through the present study of ambiguity, we can avoid misunderstanding caused by ambiguity effectively.Meanwhile, this can also help the learners improve their understanding and translation of English.Besides, by doing so, language users can get the effect of rhetorical speech of pun in order to enrich the language and make the language more humorous.What‟s more, the study of ambiguity in English may also help to confirm some universal features of language and university of people‟s thinking and may reveal some cultural differences.In short, the present study of ambiguity in English can arouse many people‟s interest and will help people to attain a better understanding of how language works in people‟s mind.During our time of learning English, we should attach more importance to it.Phonetic Ambiguity

Phonetic ambiguity, that is, a word or a phrase sounds that it has at least two meanings, occurs only in spoken English but not in written English(邱述德 英语歧义 1998).6

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2.1 Phonetic ambiguity caused by homophones Homophone means that a word that is pronounced like another word but has a different spelling or meaning(张韵斐 现代英语词汇学概论 2004).The examples analyzed below are several pairs of words which have the same sound but different meanings.If they appear in the spoken language, you will have difficulty in telling them apart.(1)a: He is sowing now.b: He is sewing now.sow and sew have the same pronunciation, however, sow in sentence a means “to plant or scatter seeds”, and sew in sentence b means “to join pieces of cloth together using a needle and thread”.(2)a: Throw the flower away.b: Throw the flower away.flower and flour are a pair of homophones, flower: noun, the part of a plant, often beautiful and colored, that produces seeds or fruit, flour: noun, power made from wheat and used for making bread or cakes.In spoken language, it is difficult for you to tell flower and flour apart.(3)a: He is flying to Oakland.b: He is flying to Oakland.Oakland in sentence a is a city of State California, but Oakland in sentence b is a city of New Zealand.They are a pair of homophones.(4)“When does the baker follow his trade?” “Whenever he kneads the dough.”

This example uses “need” and “ knead” which are a pair of homophones and added the polysemous word” dough”(In slang, this word means money),which makes it difficult for us to know that whether the baker begins his business when he needs the money or the baker begins his business when he rubs the dough.2.2 Phonetic ambiguity caused by phrases Phrases that are formed of more than one word usually contain the following elements: head, specifier and complement(The word around which a phrase is formed is termed head.The word on the left side of the heads are said to function as specifier.The words on the right side of the heads are complement)(戴炜栋 简明英语语言学教程 1989).If the end of one word is a consonant sound while the next begins with a vowel, the consonant sounds naturally to be the part of the next word.This phonetic rule, as everybody knows, is called sound-linking or sound liaison.This phenomenon as often as not cause ambiguity, for example, a bee feeder / a beef eater

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The two phrases sound similarly, however, the meaning of the former is absolutely different from the latter.The former means that a man who feeds bee, while the latter means that a man who eats beef.There are a lot of similar examples: a trained deer/ a train dear;a name / an aim;a nice girl / an ice girl;an ear-phone / a near phone.2.3 Phonetic ambiguity caused by different breath groups and different intonation(1)A range of sounds of some words which constitute a sentence pronounce together without stop called breath group(邱述德 英语歧义 1998).“Peter is a short story writer”

This sentence has two meanings because of different breath groups.One is that Peter is a story writer who is short(Peter is / a short / story writer), the other is that Peter is a writer who is good at writing short stories(Peter is / a short story / writer).(2)The rise and the fall of the voice in speaking, especially as this affects the meaning of what is said called intonation.“I beg your pardon”.If this sentence is said with a rising tone, it means “please say it again”.If it is said with a falling tone, it means “I am sorry, please forgive me”.2.4 Phonetic ambiguity caused by stress Stress means that a term used in semantic analysis to refer to a lexical item which has a range of different meanings(戴炜栋 简明英语语言学教程 1989).The peasant grows a lot of fruit.They eat what they can, and can what they cannot.In this sentence, when the verb “can” is stressed, it means “to preserve food by putting it in a can”, the sentence means they eat the food which is putted in a can.When it is unstressed, it means “be able to”, used as a modal verb, the sentence means they eat what they are be able to eat the amount of the food.Phonetic ambiguity sometimes does cause misunderstanding to people, yet it could be got rid of if enough attention is paid to the context in which the utterance concerned is made, and to the phonetic features of the language in speech.Lexical Ambiguity

Compared with the phonetic ambiguity, lexical ambiguity might cause much more complicated problems in the understanding of the language, for it exists not only in spoken form but also in written language.Its existence is attributed to certain ambiguous lexical items, namely to polysemous and homonymous words which bound in the English vocabulary.毕业设计（论文）

3.1 Lexical Ambiguity caused by homonym In the English, there are many pairs of groups of words, which, though different in meaning, are pronounced alike, or spelled alike, or both, such words are called homonyms(张韵斐 现代英语词汇学概论 2004).(1)He took the lead yesterday.This is a very simple sentence both lexically and structurally, but it is ambiguous.Here the ambiguity resides in the homographic word “lead”.Pronounced either as [li:d],meaning “a leading role or part” or as [led] meaning “a kind of metal”.Thus the sentence may be interpreted to mean either that “He took a leading part(in a certain activity)yesterday” or that “He took away the lead(a kind of metal)yesterday”.(2)After operation, he could not bear children.Here the perfect homonym “bear” must necessarily function syntactically as a verb, but the sentence itself can not tell which of the meanings was intended by the speaker or writer.Does it mean “give birth to;produce” or “put up with;tolerate”? In this case, the context in which the sentence is uttered or used often serves to remove the potential ambiguity.(3)He likes China(china).In this sentence, “China” and “china” may be said to be a pair of homophonic words.“China” with the first letter capitalized, denotes “a country in Asia”, while “china” with the first letter in its small form, means “crockery”.It is necessary to say that this kind of ambiguity caused by homophones, only exists in spoken English.Spell out, and the homophonic word will become disambiguated immediately.3.2 Lexical Ambiguity caused by polysemy A term used in semantic analysis to refer to a lexical item which has a range of different meanings(张韵斐 现代英语词汇学概论 2004).(1)The food is not hot.The word “hot” can be translated into “having a high temperature” or “spicy”.(2)He refused to pay for the board.Here ambiguity obtains on account of the polysemous word “board”.The sentence can either be interpreted as “He refused to give money for his meals” or as “He refuses to pay money for the councilors” or even as “He refuses to pay money for the “table”, etc.in the absence of the context.(3)She is an English teacher.This nominal phrase “an English teacher” can be comprehended in “a teacher from England” or “a teacher who teaches English language”.From the above for examples, a conclusion may be drawn that some sentences obtain ambiguity in both written and spoken form, while some, which are ambiguous in written form，毕业设计（论文）

may be free from the ambiguity in speech or vice verse.It is a fact that most ambiguous sentences of this kind will become disambiguated when provided with the context, but in not few cases they may cause confusion, uncertainty and misunderstanding in the mind of the listener or reader.It is also arranged on the part of literary men for stylistic purpose to achieve a variety of stylistic effects such as humor, irony, emphasis and contrast, etc.For example, a very commonly-used and effective rhetorical device, are the results of making use of polysemous and homonymous words purposely so as to make the sentences ambiguous.Structural ambiguity

In written language materials, the most important ambiguity phenomenon lies in structure.Structural ambiguity is also called grammatical ambiguity, which means “ambiguity caused by the varied interrelationships between words in a sentence.Even though none word is ambiguous, structurally it might still generate ambiguity”(何冬兰 On English Structural Ambiguity 2006-06).Structural ambiguity is often caused by the linear order of words in a sentence.It often takes place in spoken languages as well as in common phonetic materials.Structural ambiguity can be divided into two types, one is sententially structural ambiguity;the other is phrasally structural ambiguity.4.1 Sentential structural ambiguity

This kind of ambiguity only exists within a certain kinds of sentences, which are specially structured.Unlike phrasal structural ambiguity, it could not be discussed without the context of sentences.4.1.1 Caused by the simplified forms of comparative structure In English, adverbial clause of comparative degree is often abridged.It is easy to cause ambiguity.We can sort it out and analyze it.Example 1: I know him better than you.It can be explained as “I know him better than you do” or as “I know him better than I know you.”

Example 2: Lily likes Harry as well as Joe.It can be understood as “Lily likes Harry as well as Joe does” or as “Lily likes Harry as well as she likes Joe”.4.1.2 Caused by negative word “not”

In a sentence, if the predicate is negative, and being attached by an adverbial modifier, it might generate ambiguity.Example 1: Jessica didn‟t prepare her lessons well yesterday.毕业设计（论文）

This sentence could be explained as three structures:(1)Yesterday, Jessica didn‟t prepare her lessons well.(She did something else.)(2)Yesterday, Jessica prepared her lessons, but not well enough.(3)Jessica prepared her lessons well, but not in yesterday.Example 2: He didn‟t go because he was afraid.And this sentence has two different structures:(1)He was afraid, so he didn‟t go.(2)He went, but not because he was afraid.In this sentence pattern, the negative word “not” in the main clause could either negate the main clause or the subordinate clause.Hence ambiguity takes place.4.1.3 Caused by adverbial or adverbial clause Example: Go straight forward and then turn left when you see a children‟s cinema.”

“When” introduces a time adverbial clause.It can modify “then turn left”, meaning “Go straight forward, you will see a children‟s cinema, and then turn left.” It can also modify the whole sentence, meaning “When you see a children‟s cinema, go straight forward and then turn left.”

4.1.4 Caused by fixed sentence patterns Example 1: It is good for him to do so.In this sentence pattern, ambiguity is caused by “for him”.It has two widely divergent meaning.(1)He is so kind that he does so.(2)What he does is good for him.Example 2: Eric is too good a man to kill.The verb after a verbal infinitive could be either active form or passive form.So the subject of the sentence could both be agent or victim.The two structures are:(1)Eric is too good a man for him to kill others.(2)Eric is too good a man for others to kill him.4.1.5 Caused by the simplified forms of parataxis Similar to the simplified forms of comparative structure, in a simplified form of parataxis, the latter compound clause is abridged, leaving only one or two constituents, which might be relevant to the subject or the object(or the object clause)in the front clause.Example 1: Lucy gave Monica a nickel and Mary a dime.Here “Mary a dime” is an ambiguous item.“Mary” could have the position as “Lucy”.Then it is the subject of the latter clause while the indirect object “Monica” is left out.Or it could have the position as “Monica”.Then it is the indirect object of the latter clause while the subject “Lucy” is left out.So the full structures for the two divergent meaning are:(1)Lucy gave Monica a nickel and Mary gave Monica a dime.(2)Lucy gave Monica a nickel and gave Mary a dime.毕业设计（论文）

The use of auxiliary verb is also one factor of causing such kind of ambiguity.Please look at the following example.Example 2: John thought Ivan went to Japan and Phillip did too.“Did” here would refer to either “thought” or “went”.And the two possible structures are:(1)John thought Ivan went to Japan and Phillip also thought Ivan went to Japan.(2)John thought Ivan went to Japan and he thought Phillip went to Japan too.4.1.6 Caused by some word’s special syntactic function

Some words in English, mainly conjunctions, adverbs and pronouns that introduce subordinate clause, have more than one syntactic function.Example: Go and ask the teacher by the window who is going to give you lessons in art.In this sentence, ambiguity is triggered by “ask”, which could be attached to with only a direct object, only an indirect object, or both of them.So the sentence could be explained as:(1)Go and ask the teacher by the window.He is going to give you lessons in art..(2)Go and ask the teacher by the window.He might know who is going to give you lessons in art.4.2 Phrasally structural ambiguity

It‟s common to find one central word with two or more than two modifiers.When being lack of limit of the choice or contextual clues, the relationship between the modifiers and the central word might be ambiguous.English grammar is flexible and changeable.So does the word‟s collocation.Hence the existence of structural ambiguity is inevitable.4.2.1 Caused by Shift of Parts of Speech Shifts of parts of speech have several situations, but basically because of the uncertainty of the word‟s part of speech.For example, “can fish”.This phrase might mean “be able to fish”.Or “put the fish into a can”.The cause of ambiguity in this sentence is the part of speech of the word “can”, which has two circumstances.“can” might be a model verb or a transitive verb.At the same time, the word “fish” might be an intransitive verb or a noun.This is only one common example;I would like to sum up the examples into certain ambiguous forms as following.a).N/V + V/N Example: ship sails It‟s hard to decide the part of speech of either “ship” or “sails”.There are two possibilities: “ship sails(N + V)” or “ship sails(V + N)”.The first structure means “a ship will sail”.And the second structure means “someone will ship the sails”.This kind of ambiguity item can be easily found in telegrams or newspapers.b).Adj./N + N Example: a Chinese teacher This phrase has two structures: “a Chinese teacher(Adj.+ N)” or “a Chinese teacher(N + N)”.The first structure means “a teacher who is Chinese”.And the second structure means “a teacher

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who teaches Chinese”.c).“V + N + V” or “V + Adj./ Pron./ Possession + N” Example: make her dress fast This phrase has two structures: “make her dress fast(V + N + V)” or “make her dress fast(V +Adj./ Pron./ Possession +N)”.The first structure means “tell her to dress herself quickly”.And the second structure means “have her dress made quickly”.4.2.2 Caused by Constituent Structure or Phrase Structure a).Adj.+ N + Conj.+ N

Example: ugly frog and tortoise

The possible structures are “(ugly frog)and tortoise” or “ugly(frog and tortoise)”.b).Adj.+ N‟s + N

Example: a nice boy‟s car

The possible structures are “(a nice boy)‟s car” or “a nice(boy‟s car)”.c).Adj.+ N + N Example: foreign language teacher The possible structures are “(foreign language)teacher” or “foreign(language teacher)”.d).N1 and N2 or N3 Example: John and Sam or Tom The possible structures are “(John and Sam)or Tom” or „‟John and(Sam or Tom)”.e).V + N1 + Prep.+ N2 Example: see a boy with a telescope The ambiguous item is the PP attachment “with a telescope”.It can attach to “see” or “a boy”.In the first case, it means “use a telescope to see a boy”.And the latter case means “see a boy who has a telescope”.f).N1 of N2

Example: the love of God This phrase has two meanings: “someone‟s love to God” or “God‟s love to someone”.g).N + N + N +… Example1: girl hunter

This phrase is rather special for structural ambiguity.It has only one structure, but it has two possible meanings because it is not easy to decide the role of “girl”.This phrase might mean “a girl who is a hunter” or “a hunter who hunts girl”.This is not lexical ambiguity, but a kind of recessive structural ambiguity caused by the special function of certain phrase structure.Pragmatic ambiguity

Pragmatic ambiguity denotes that the language expresses different purpose or meaning in the

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real application(邱述德 英语歧义 1998).Quite a few people like using ambiguous and indirect sentences to describe connotation deliberately.5.1 Pragmatic ambiguity caused by implication(1)A: What do you want to do this afternoon? B: I have a terrible backache.The answer of B is to express the fact that he has a terrible backache.However, as a matter of fact, his intention is that he wants to let A know he will not do anything at all this afternoon.(2)A: Synden is the capital of Australia, isn‟t it, teacher? B: And New York is China, I suppose.The answer of B is out of association of with the question of A.But in fact this way is “the wrong answer versus the wrong sentence” to describe the conclusion of A is very absurd.5.2 Pragmatic ambiguity caused by transcultural background(1)The Englishmen translate “a flat tyre” into “a tyre without enough air inside” while the Americans into “a very foolish man”.Another example we may use to illustrate this point goes like this: A British girl toured around America and guided by an American girl.They conversed with each other after a whole day of tour.Br: Let me have a rest.I am already knocked up.Am: My heartiest congratulation!Br: Why do you say that? Am: Why shouldn‟t I?

The phrase “knock up” means “pregnant” in America, but “very tired” in Britain.So, the British girl is baffled when she hears the American girl‟s “My heartiest congratulation”.(2)A: Do people often die in this village?

B: No, they only die once.A: Do a lot of people die in this village?

B: Yes, all of them do.“people often die” can be understood into “the matter which people die often happen” or “people die more than one time”, and “ a lot of people die” into “many people die” or “the matter which people die often happen”.B makes an “honest” comprehension of A‟s remarks, which result from the difference between subjective culture and objective one.(3)Once there was a factory in which “horizontal store refrigerator” were produced.On the model-label of refrigerators, “W.C”---the abbreviation of the Chinese phonetic alphabet of “卧藏”.“W.C” is just the same as the abbreviation of the word “water-closet” in English.This caused too much misunderstanding.To sum up, pragmatic ambiguity is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided in the use of language.It can cause misunderstanding and even anger between the people.Therefore, in the

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conversation, we should listen carefully to know the speaker‟s intention.Besides, when we talk with a foreigner, we should understand the culture of his country before.However, if pragmatic ambiguity used properly, we can enhance the effect of expression.Conclusion

So far, the four basic types of ambiguity, the phonetic, lexical, structural and pragmatic, have been discussed and dealt with separately；but it should be pointed out that in authentic language, they do not always appear separately, instead they might mingle together and reside in one sentence at the same time.This really requires much attention.From all the analyses made in this thesis, a fact shows itself that apart from the linguistic reasons, i.e.the phonetic, lexical structural and pragmatic ones that bring about ambiguity, another important factor which, to a great extent, is responsible for the lack of context.Most of the examples cited in the thesis will become disambiguated when they are placed in the context in which they are used, because context dependence is a universal feature of human languages.Context plays a vital role in the determination of word meaning and sentence meaning.Based on this fact, it necessarily follows that a successful communication requires not only a sufficient knowledge in linguistics, say, phonetics, lexicology, syntax and pragmatics which makes it possible to recognize the four major types of ambiguity that may arise at any time in using the language, but also that close attention should be paid to the context, which can serve as the only available means to remove the potential ambiguities.In short, to cope with the subtle language, one should not only be armed with sufficient knowledge in linguistics, but also should be attentive and observant enough to the context, the most important factor which plays a vital role ill the determination of word meaning or sentence meaning.The knowledge in linguistics can help to recognize potential ambiguities while a keen awareness of the context can help to remove them.The combination of the two is sure to lead to a good understanding and a rich appreciation of the language.毕业设计（论文）

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Acknowledgement