The Analysis of Ambiguity in English Language

Based on Structural Grammar

Guoliang Chen
School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
chriskie2009@yahoo.cn
AbstractAmbiguity, a common phenomenon in English
language, presents in various levels such as phonological
ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, and grammatical ambiguity.
This paper introduces relevant theories of structural grammar,
classifying ambiguity into three levels: phonological ambiguity,
morphological ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity. By
employing structural grammar, this paper analyzes different
forms of ambiguity via diagramming, and further discusses
their pragmatic functions in context. The main purpose of this
paper is to arouse English learners attention to ambiguity in
English language and promote their awareness of using
ambiguity in a proper way.
Key words:
ambiguity; structural grammar; pragmatic

AMBIGUITY
The structural grammar is a systematic description of
the language including an analysis of the sound system
(phonology), then the systematic combination of sounds
into meaningful units and words (morphology), and the
systematic combination of words into meaningful sentence
patterns (syntax). This research paper will analyze
ambiguity from these three aspects, thats, the phonological
ambiguity, the morphological ambiguity, and the syntactic
ambiguity.
A. The Phonological Ambiguity
Phonological ambiguities are words that sound the
same but have different meanings and can be used in very
different ways. Phonological ambiguity often arises from
homonyms (words with different meanings that happen to
have the same spelling and the same sound) or homophones
(words with identical sounds in which both meaning and
spelling are different). Here are some examples:
1) Homonyms:
(1) saw ( the tool) and saw (the past tense form of
see; to cut with a saw)
e.g. I saw a saw.
(2) ring (a circular object such as ear ring) and ring
(a phone call)
e.g. Jack gave Alice a ring.
2) Homophones:
(3) too and two
e.g. She grants him too/two.
(4) tale and tail
e.g. `Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse,
turning to Alice, and sighing. `It IS a long tail,
certainly,' said Alice, looking down with wonder
at the Mouse's tail; `but why do you call it sad?'
And she kept on puzzling about it while the
Mouse was speaking (Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland)
In (1) I saw a saw. is ambiguous because the first saw
can be understood in two different ways:
First, I saw (past tense form of see) a saw (a tool to cut
something).
Second, I saw (to cut) a saw (a tool to cut something).
The ambiguity can be eliminated if we change the above
sentence into the following:
I saw a saw saw a saw. ( I witnessed a saw that sawed
another saw.)
It can be explicit when this sentence is diagramed:

functions

I. ASSOCIATED THEORIES
A. Ambiguity
Ambiguity is a term used in writing and mathematics,
and under conditions where information can be understood
or interpreted in more than one way (Wiki). Context may
play a role in resolving ambiguity. For example the same
piece of information may be ambiguous in one context and
unambiguous in another. Linguistic ambiguity can be
classified into various forms as follows: lexical ambiguity,
syntactic
ambiguity,
semantic
ambiguity,
and
phonological ambiguity. This paper will analyze the
ambiguity form the perspective of structural grammar,
complete with phonological, morphological, and syntactic
ambiguity.
B.

Structural Grammar
Structural grammar is also called structuralism which
refers to a descriptive approach to grammar associated with
mid-twentieth-century linguists such as Franz Boas, Edward
Sapir, and Leonard Bloomfield. The purpose of this
approach is to describe how language is actually used rather
than prescribing a correct version for students to learn.
Martha Kolln (1997) stated, The structuralists examined
sentences objectively, paying particular attention to how
words change in sound and spelling (their form) and how
they are used in sentences (their function).(P. 5)
II. ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF

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saw

example will demonstrate this ambiguity.

e.g. (5) We admire Van Goghs portrait.
This possessive could refer either to a portrait of the artist or
to a portrait by the artist.
2) The Form Class
The form class refers to the classification of words,
such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, etc. In this
sense, morphological ambiguity refers to lexical ambiguity.
Polysemy is the trigger for lexical ambiguity. Several form
classes will be analyzed in this section.
e.g. (6) Mr. Smith gave me a ring yesterday.
Just like example (2), ring, as a noun, has two different
meanings, one referring to a circular object, the other a
phone call.
e.g. (7) John painted a tree.
We can understand the above sentence in two different ways
because paint has different meanings.
* John painted a tree green. (to paint something with
paint)
* John painted a tree on the paper. (to draw
something)
Through diagramming, the meaning of painted is explicit.

saw

a
I

saw
saw
a

In (2), the sentence can be understood in two different

meanings:
* Jack gave Alice a finger ring.
* Jack made a phone call to Alice.
Even if the original sentence is diagramed, it is still
ambiguous because ring has different meanings:
Jack
gave
ring.
a

Alice

In (3), the sentence She grants him too/two. can be

explicit by diagramming:
She

grants

him

She

grants

two.

too.

John painted

tree

green
a

John painted

him

tree
a

In these two sentences, too in the former serves as a

modifier (complement) while two in the latter serves as
the direct object. It sounds ambiguous but explicit if it is
diagramed.
In (4), the sentence Mine is a long and a sad tale/tail.
is ambiguous because tale and tail sound exactly the
same. Even though it is diagramed, it is the same. However,
tale can be modified by sad while tail cannot be
modified by sad in general. So these two sentences are
different semantically.

on paper
the

e.g. (8) It is hard.

Hard, as an adjective, can be understood into different
meanings:
It is hard to understand his idea. (difficult)
The stone is hard. (tough)
As illustrated in the above two sentences, the meaning of
hard is explicit if it is put in a specific context.

B.

The Morphological Ambiguity

The morphology is the study of morphemes, thats, the
systematic combination of sounds into meaningful units and
words. Morphological ambiguity refers to the different
ways of interpreting the meaning of the same sound units or
words. Sometimes, morphological ambiguity is confused
with lexical ambiguity which is ambiguous in words. In fact,
morphological ambiguity is of wider range. This paper will
analyze this part in two different aspects: the affix and the
form class.
1) Affix
Affix is a morpheme, or meaningful unit, that is added
to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of a word to change
its meaning or its grammatical role or its form class. For
example, un- in unlikely is a prefix, and -ly in unlikely is a
suffix. One of the noun inflectional suffixes is the
possessive case which indicates the ownership between the
possessive noun and the headword. Sometimes, the actual
relationship is unclear, even in context. The following

C. The Syntactic Ambiguity

The syntactic ambiguity refers to a property of
sentences that may be reasonably interpreted in more than
one way, or reasonably interpreted to mean more than one
thing. Syntactic ambiguity arises from the relationship
between the words and clauses of a sentence. Syntactic
ambiguity is so complicated that it might be categorized
into various types, such as the misuse of part of speech, the
uncertain bound of modifier, the misplacement of modifier,
the improper ellipsis in a comparative adverbial clause, etc.
In this part, syntactic ambiguity will be analyzed in these
four aspects.
1) The Misuse of Part of Speech
In a sentence, part of speech plays a very important
part, especially the verbs. However, verbs in English
sometimes can be nouns. If some words are misused,
ambiguity may occur.
For example:
(9) The market demands change.

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In this sentence, demands and change can be both

verbs and nouns, so the sentence can be interpreted in two
ways:
* The demands of the market are not the same as
before.
* The market demands to have some change.
If diagrammed, the original sentence can be different:
market

demands

John

John

change

in

saw

the

in

In the above diagrams, we clearly find the part of speech of

the two words demands and change can be different,
hence the different meanings of the sentence.
2) The Uncertain Bound of Modifier
In an English sentence, if a noun or noun phrase is
followed by modifier(s), or a noun is modified by a pronoun
or prepositional phrase, ambiguity may arise.
e.g. (10) Michael found his wife a good cook.
We can interpret the above sentence in two ways:
* Michael found that his wife was a good cook.
* Michael found a good cook for his wife.
If diagrammed, the original sentence can be different:

Michael found

cook
a

man
the
room

the
4) The Improper Ellipsis in a Comparative Adverbial
Clause
In English sentence, some elements such as verbs are
often omitted when in comparative adverbial clause.
Improper ellipsis may result in misunderstanding, for
example:
(12) She loves her dog more than her child.
We can understand the above sentence in two different
ways:
* She loves her dog more than her child does.
* She loves her dog more than she loves her child.
Therefore, when we make comparison, we must be very
carful about the ellipsis. Complete sentence structure is
safer.

good

cook

wife

man

room

John saw

The market

his

room
the

the

change

Michael found wife

man
the in

The
demands

saw

III. PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF AMBIGUITY

J. Austin (1975) claims that each speech act comprises
three levels: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and
perlocutionary act. First, every utterance is represented by a
sentence with a grammatical structure and a linguistic
meaning, which is called locution. Second, speakers have
some intention in making an utterance, and what they
intend to accomplish is called an illocution. A third
component is the effect of the act on the hearer, which is
called perlocution. By employing Austins Speech Act
Theory, some pragmatic functions of ambiguity will be
analyzed in this part.

good

his

In the former diagram, cook serves as a complement for

wife while in the latter, cook serves as a direct object
and wife an indirect object.
3) The Misplacement of Modifier
In an English sentence, modifiers can be put in
different places, thus modifying different nouns which
might be the subject or the object in the sentence.
e.g. (11) John saw the man in the room.
At the end of the sentence, the prepositional phrase in
the room can modify the subject John and the object
the man, and the verb saw. Therefore, we can interpret
the sentence in three different ways:
* It is in the room that John saw the man. (Both John
and the man were in the room.)
* John saw the man who was in the room. (Only the
man was in the room.)
* John was in the room and he saw the man (outside).
If diagrammed, this sentence can be very explicit in
different contexts:

A.

To Evade Responsibility
Sometimes, ambiguity can be a good excuse for people
to evade their responsibilities. For example, a driver parked
his car in a restricted place and then he was fined by a
policeman. When the policeman gave him the ticket, the
driver pointed at the nearby sign which says Fine for
Parking!, and said, Its fine for me to park my car here.
In this case, different meanings of fine result in the
ambiguity.
B.

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To Dissuade and Suggest Euphemistically

There is a popular saying in English, Never marry

above your station. It means that you had better not marry
people whose social status or financial conditions do not
match yours. Station in the saying has two meanings,
bus station or train station and social status. This saying
is meant to dissuade people from doing so, but in a
euphemistical way. Humorous effect arises in this case.

Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569620/str
uctural-grammar.
[5] Zhi F.(2009). An analysis on English structural
ambiguity based on transformational-generative

C. To Advertise Subtly
In order to attract peoples attention, some advertisers
make use of ambiguity to create unexpected effect. For
instance:
(13) You cant express it better!
(14) Make time for Time.
(15) Give your change to make change.
In (13), express is ambiguous because it has two different
meanings, one for conveying ones idea, the other
delivering mails fast. This ambiguity is a pun which
leaves an impressive effect on people. In (14), the
advertisement persuades people to spend time reading
Time, an American popular journal. In (15), change
means pocket money and making a difference. If
everyone can donate a little, it will make a difference.

grammar. Education for Chinese After-school. Vol.10.(P.

46-47)

IV. CONCLUSION
In the above parts, several forms of ambiguity have
been classified and analyzed in detail. Relevant theories of
structural grammar make it possible to understand the
different meanings of an ambiguous sentence. The whole
paper focuses on the different forms of ambiguity in
English language, that is, phonological ambiguity,
morphonological ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity.
Several pragmatic functions are also mentioned and
analyzed by introducing Speech Act Theory. However, this
paper is not perfect as expected because of the complexity
of syntactic ambiguity. Further research may continue in
order to make this fascinating linguistic phenomenon more
explicit.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I am especially indebted to my supervisor Professor
Spoto, and my wife, my colleagues and family members for
their continuous support all the time. Without their
encouragement, this paper could not be possible
REFERENCES
[1] Austin John. 1975. How to Do Things with Words, 2nd
ed.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[2] Finegan E. (2005). Language Its Structure and Use, 4th
ed.
Beijing: Peking University Press.
[3] Kolln M. Funk R. (1997). Understanding

English

Grammar. 5th ed. Allyn and Bacon.

[4] Structural grammar. (2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica.

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