Semantic Analysis of Structurally Ambiguous Sentences

Abstract

The use of English language and in fact other languages can lead to many ambiguous communications. Observations indicate that mere use of a word or a phrase in a sentence may change its meaning and relationship to other words or phrases, and this compels 
readers or listeners to construe its meaning in different ways. It is obvious that a sentence on its own can be ambiguous, but it can be disambiguated within a certain frame of context. This paper focused on the semantic analysis of structurally ambiguous sentences or phrases which are difficult to understand due to use of incorrect or imprecise possessive determiners. In some sentences, ambiguity may create humour among the audience thus, making the ambiguity to be acceptable in such a context. However, when the main purpose of the sentence is to convey information the point of the sentence should be as straightforward as possible. With this in mind, the present paper attempted to analyze the issue of ambiguity in written and spoken language by reviewing different areas of ambiguity, its causes, and some techniques used in disambiguation, so that readers and listeners can correctly interpret clear meaning of written and spoken sentences and discourses.