Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Ambiguity Theory: History
Please note this is an old version of this entry, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ambiguity theory, within linguistics, refers to theoretical approaches that examine how linguistic expressions permit multiple interpretations and how those interpretations are represented, distinguished, and resolved during language comprehension [1]. Linguistic ambiguity may occur at lexical, morphological, syntactic, or pragmatic levels, depending on whether alternative interpretations arise from a word’s meanings, its morphological structure, the grammatical structure of an expression, or its interpretation in context [1]. The concept concerns the analysis and processing of multiple possible interpretations and is distinct from vagueness, in which an expression has an imprecise meaning rather than two or more clearly distinguishable interpretations [1].

  • linguistic ambiguity
  • lexical ambiguity
  • syntactic ambiguity
  • ambiguity resolution

Linguistics and Language Analysis • Language and Linguistics • Arts and Humanities • Social Sciences

References

  1. Jordi Fortuny; Lluís Payrató; Ambiguity in Linguistics1. Stud. Linguistica 2023, 78, 1-7, 10.1111/stul.12221.
More
This entry is offline, you can click here to edit this entry!
Write an Entry