The Nature of Ambiguity across Languages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol6.iss12.1259Keywords:
structural ambiguity, lexical ambiguity, interpretation, antecedentAbstract
Ambiguity is a universal phenomenon in processing natural language which is present at phonological, lexical, and grammatical linguistic levels in languages in general and in Arabic and English in particular. A breakdown of communication may take place because of the different interpretations of ambiguous sentences. This paper investigates the interpretations of some Arabic ambiguous sentences in relation to their linguistic content of both English and Arabic languages and it is also an attempt to trace the common ambiguous patterns. It is hypothesized that similar structures of ambiguous sentences may have serious consequences in the intercultural communication. This paper examines Arabic sentences with lexical and structural ambiguity in order to know exactly how the speakers[1] understand these sentences. It is also an attempt to idealize the pragmatic functions of these sentences. Results are evident that factors causing ambiguity are shared among languages, and ambiguity is transferable[2].
[1] of both Arabic and English
[2] Arabic and English in this case
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