Creating ambiguity: syntax and semantics - Detailseite

Ambiguity is a pervasive phenomenon in language and can be found in simple examples like the following three examples: 

(1)       Can you lend me a pen?         (a writing instrument, an enclosure, a female swan?)

(2)       Everyone did not attend.        (no one attended, or only some did not?)

(3)       Max saw the man with the telescope.          (who had the telescope?)

In this class, we will investigate how speakers can express such ambiguities and how hearers can resolve them. Following the basic insight that one can understand every sentence as long as one knows the meanings of the words and the rules of the grammar, we will explore how word meanings and grammar rules interact in the creation of ambiguous meaning. We will start from simple patterns to introduce the basic structures and procedures, and then extend the scope to integrate increasingly complex cases of ambiguity.