WEEK 8 - Linguistic Pitfalls Flashcards
what are the three kinds of ambiguity ?
- Lexical ambiguity
- Referential ambiguity
- Syntactic ambiguity
what does ambiguity mean ?
the quality of being open to more than one interpretation
what are ambiguous expressions ?
expressions that mean or refer to more than one thing
what is lexical ambiguity ?
when a word has more than one literal meaning
what are some examples of lexical ambiguity ?
- “bank”
- “duck”
- “mouse”
what is referential ambiguity?
when it is not clear what is being referred to ?
what are some examples of words with multiple interpretations (referential ambiguity) ?
- she, he, him, they
- everything, somebody, most
what is syntactic ambiguity ?
an expression can be understood as having multiple grammatical structure with different meanings
the following is an example of what kind of ambiguity ?
“Visiting relatives can be boring.”
1. Relatives who visit can be boring
2. The act of visiting relatives can be boring
syntactic ambiguity
the following is an example of what kind of ambiguity ?
“Time flies!”
1. Time goes by quickly!
2. You must have time!
syntactic ambiguity
what does disambiguation mean ?
is the act of interpreting an author’s intended use of a word that has multiple means or spellings
how can ambiguity be resolved ?
by context and background knowledge
what can ambiguity lead to …
unclarity
when does an argument equivocate ?
when a key term in it switches meanings
what des equivocation mean ?
essentially a way of avoiding counterarguments or hard questions
what are ambiguous expression ?
expressions that mean or refer to more than one thing
what are some linguistic pitfalls ?
- Ambiguity
- Vagueness
- Incomplete meaning
- Inappropriate emotional connotation
- Category mistake
- Empty meaning
- Jargon and gobbledygook
what does vagueness mean ?
lack of certainty or distinctness
what does linguistic pitfalls mean ?
hinder clear and effective communication
when do we see linguistic pitfalls ?
this can happen when we use language that is unclear, distorted, or empty in meaning
what does incomplete meaning mean ?
some terms’ use presupposes certain standards of comparison
E.g., “similar”, “useful”
If it’s not clear what the intended standards are, their meanings are unclear.
what is the problem with incomplete meaning ?
if the relevant standards are not clear, the meaning of an expression is unclear
when does inappropriate emotional connotation occur ?
when emotionally-laden language is inappropriately use d e.g., to bias our reactions
when does a category mistake occur ?
when a statement ascribes a property to something that it does not make sense for an object of that kind to have
when does a statement have an empty meaning ?
when it provides little or no information
what dose jargon mean ?
groups of people (e.g., doctors, philosophers, carpenters, WoW players) use specialized vocabulary (jargon) to communicate quickly and effectively
what does gobbledygook mean ?
is an obscure and convoluted language, e.g., language that is full of jargon, wordy, or convoluted
