WEEK 8 - Linguistic Pitfalls

Question 1

what are the three kinds of ambiguity ?

Answer 1

• Lexical ambiguity
• Referential ambiguity
• Syntactic ambiguity

Question 2

what does ambiguity mean ?

Answer 2

the quality of being open to more than one interpretation

Question 3

what are ambiguous expressions ?

Answer 3

expressions that mean or refer to more than one thing

Question 4

what is lexical ambiguity ?

Answer 4

when a word has more than one literal meaning

Question 5

what are some examples of lexical ambiguity ?

Answer 5

• “bank”
• “duck”
• “mouse”

Question 6

what is referential ambiguity?

Answer 6

when it is not clear what is being referred to ?

Question 7

what are some examples of words with multiple interpretations (referential ambiguity) ?

Answer 7

• she, he, him, they
• everything, somebody, most

Question 8

what is syntactic ambiguity ?

Answer 8

an expression can be understood as having multiple grammatical structure with different meanings

Question 9

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

Answer 9

syntactic ambiguity

Question 10

the following is an example of what kind of ambiguity ?

“Time flies!”
1. Time goes by quickly!
2. You must have time!

Answer 10

syntactic ambiguity

Question 11

what does disambiguation mean ?

Answer 11

is the act of interpreting an author’s intended use of a word that has multiple means or spellings

Question 12

how can ambiguity be resolved ?

Answer 12

by context and background knowledge

Question 13

what can ambiguity lead to …

Answer 13

unclarity

Question 14

when does an argument equivocate ?

Answer 14

when a key term in it switches meanings

Question 15

what des equivocation mean ?

Answer 15

essentially a way of avoiding counterarguments or hard questions

Question 16

what are ambiguous expression ?

Answer 16

expressions that mean or refer to more than one thing

Question 17

what are some linguistic pitfalls ?

Answer 17

• Ambiguity
• Vagueness
• Incomplete meaning
• Inappropriate emotional connotation
• Category mistake
• Empty meaning
• Jargon and gobbledygook

Question 18

what does vagueness mean ?

Answer 18

lack of certainty or distinctness

Question 19

what does linguistic pitfalls mean ?

Answer 19

hinder clear and effective communication

Question 20

when do we see linguistic pitfalls ?

Answer 20

this can happen when we use language that is unclear, distorted, or empty in meaning

Question 21

what does incomplete meaning mean ?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

what is the problem with incomplete meaning ?

Answer 22

if the relevant standards are not clear, the meaning of an expression is unclear

Question 23

when does inappropriate emotional connotation occur ?

Answer 23

when emotionally-laden language is inappropriately use d e.g., to bias our reactions

Question 24

when does a category mistake occur ?

Answer 24

when a statement ascribes a property to something that it does not make sense for an object of that kind to have

Question 25

when does a statement have an empty meaning ?

Answer 25

when it provides little or no information

Question 26

what dose jargon mean ?

Answer 26

groups of people (e.g., doctors, philosophers, carpenters, WoW players) use specialized vocabulary (jargon) to communicate quickly and effectively

Question 27

what does gobbledygook mean ?

Answer 27

is an obscure and convoluted language, e.g., language that is full of jargon, wordy, or convoluted