Syntactic ambiguity facts for kids

Syntactic ambiguity, also known as structural ambiguity or amphiboly, happens when a sentence can be understood in more than one way. This is because of how the words are put together, not because of what individual words mean.

Imagine a sentence where the way it's built makes it confusing. A reader or listener might think it has different possible structures. This kind of confusion doesn't come from a single word having many meanings. Instead, it comes from how the words and parts of the sentence relate to each other.

Sometimes, in legal cases, courts have to figure out what a confusing sentence in a law or contract really means. It's like solving a puzzle to find the correct interpretation.

What is Sentence Ambiguity?

Different Kinds of Ambiguity

Global Ambiguity

A globally ambiguous sentence has at least two completely different meanings. Even after you read or hear the whole sentence, it's still unclear which meaning is correct. Rereading it won't help because the sentence structure doesn't give any clues.

Often, people don't even notice global ambiguities. They tend to pick the meaning that seems most likely to them.

Here's an example: "The woman held the baby in the green blanket."

• This could mean the baby was wrapped in a green blanket while the woman held it.
• Or, it could mean the woman used a green blanket to hold the baby (like a sling).

Local Ambiguity

A locally ambiguous sentence has a confusing part, but the confusion clears up by the end of the sentence. The unclear part only lasts for a short time.

Sometimes, local ambiguities can create "garden path" sentences. These sentences sound correct at first, but they lead you to the wrong meaning. Then, you have to go back and re-read them to understand the true meaning.

Fun Examples of Ambiguity

Here are some famous and funny examples of sentences that can be understood in more than one way:

• The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose. — From Henry VI by William Shakespeare
  • This could mean: Henry will remove the duke from power.
  • Or it could mean: The duke will remove Henry from power.

This kind of ambiguity often appears in poetry because words might be rearranged for rhythm.

• I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola. — From "Lola" by the Kinks
  • This could mean: Lola and I are both happy that I am a man.
  • Or it could mean: I am glad I am a man, and Lola is also glad to be a man.
  • Or it could mean: I am glad I am a man, and Lola is also a man.

• John saw the man on the mountain with a telescope.
  • This could mean: John used a telescope to see a man on a mountain.
  • Or it could mean: John saw a man who was on a mountain that had a telescope on it.
  • Or it could mean: John saw a man on a mountain, and that man had a telescope.
  • Or it could mean: John was on a mountain, using a telescope, and he saw a man.
  • Or it could mean: John was on a mountain, and he saw a man who had a telescope.

• Lesbian Vampire Killers, the title of a comedy-horror movie
  • This could mean: Lesbians who kill vampires.
  • Or it could mean: Killers of lesbian vampires.
  • Or it could mean: Lesbian vampires who are killers.

• "The Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley
  • This could mean: A purple creature that eats people.
  • Or it could mean: A creature that eats purple people. (The song lyrics confirm this meaning, but it's still unclear if the creature itself is purple!)

Ambiguity in News Headlines

Newspaper headlines are often written in a very short, "telegram" style. They sometimes leave out words like "is" or "are," which can make them confusing. This often creates "garden path" headlines, also called crash blossoms.

For example, the headline "Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms" is a famous crash blossom. It's hard to tell if the violinist is linked to flowers (blossoms) or if "blossoms" is part of the crash event.

You can find many examples of these funny headlines in columns like "The Lower Case" in the Columbia Journalism Review.

Ambiguity in Jokes and Ads

Syntactic ambiguities are often used on purpose to create humour or clever advertisements.

A famous joke from comedian Groucho Marx plays on this: "I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I don't know." The funny part is the confusion about who was in the pajamas – Groucho or the elephant!

Another well-known example is: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana". This sentence plays on the different meanings of "flies" and "like."

When people create these ambiguities on purpose, they know how sentence structures can lead to different meanings. But for the joke or ad to work, both meanings must make sense in the situation.

Syntactic vs. Semantic Ambiguity

It's important to know the difference between syntactic ambiguity and semantic ambiguity.

• In syntactic ambiguity, the same group of words can have different sentence structures.
• In semantic ambiguity, the sentence structure stays the same, but individual words have different meanings. For example, the word "bank" can mean a river bank or a financial bank. This is semantic ambiguity.

How Our Brains Understand Sentences

Scientists have different ideas about how our brains deal with confusing sentences.

Reanalysis Model

One idea, called the reanalysis model, suggests that we only have trouble understanding a sentence when we realize our first guess about its structure was wrong. Then, our brain has to go back and re-evaluate the sentence. Most reanalysis models say that our brain tries to understand only one meaning at a time.

Let's look at these sentences:

• "The dog of the woman that had the parasol was brown."
• "The woman with the dog that had the parasol was brown."
• "The dog with the woman that had the parasol was brown."

Studies show that it's just as easy to understand the first sentence (which is ambiguous) as the second and third (which are not). This is because the words before the confusing part don't strongly push us toward one meaning over another. This supports the reanalysis model.

Unrestricted Race Model

The unrestricted race model says that our brain starts figuring out the meaning of a sentence even before it gets to the confusing part. It tries to guess the most likely meaning based on what it knows so far.

Imagine different possible meanings of a sentence are in a "race." The meaning that our brain figures out the fastest is the one it picks first. The more clues and information that support a certain meaning, the faster our brain will choose it.

Consider these sentences:

• "The maid of the princess who scratched herself in public was terribly humiliated."
• "The son of the princess who scratched himself in public was terribly humiliated."
• "The son of the princess who scratched herself in public was terribly humiliated."

Research shows that people read the first sentence (ambiguous) faster than the second and third sentences (which become clear later). In sentences 2 and 3, words like "himself" or "herself" make it clear who scratched whom. This forces readers to go back and re-think the sentence, which takes more time.

But in sentence 1, the word "herself" could refer to either the maid or the princess. Since it doesn't force a re-think, readers don't have to slow down. This suggests that if there's no clear information, our brain might not fully commit to one meaning. It's like a "good-enough" approach to understanding language.

The Good-Enough Approach

The "good-enough" approach suggests that our understanding of sentences is often not perfect or complete. Our brain might just get a "good enough" idea of what's being said, especially if the sentence is confusing or if there's other information getting in the way. It tries to block out confusing information to help us understand.

How Kids and Adults Understand Ambiguity

Children's Understanding of Ambiguity

Children understand ambiguous sentences differently from adults. This is because they haven't had as much experience with language and the world.

• Kids are still learning how clues from the environment or context can help figure out a sentence's meaning.
• They also haven't fully developed the skill to realize that a confusing word or phrase can have many meanings.
• When children read confusing sentences, they take longer than adults to decide on an initial meaning.
• Also, children are not as good at looking back at the most important part of a sentence to help them re-understand it.

Some studies suggest that how well someone can remember information (their "working memory") also plays a role. Adults usually have better working memory. While they might spend more time figuring out a confusing sentence, they are often more accurate in the end. Children, on the other hand, might decide on a meaning more quickly because their working memory can only hold a few interpretations at a time.

See also

• Ambiguous grammar
• Dangling modifier
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves
• Equivocation
• Garden path sentence
• Ibis redibis nunquam per bella peribis
• List of linguistic example sentences
• Natural language processing
• Paraprosdokian
• Reading span task
• Serial comma
• The Purple People Eater
• Transderivational search