What is ambiguity? Concept and Definition

The meaning given to certain words or expressions that can have one or more meanings is called ambiguity, that is, they can be given different meanings and it depends on the context in which it is being applied and the information that the receiver receives. know about the subject.

The word ambiguity comes from the Latin word ambiguitas and means “that can be understood in various ways”; the adjective form of the word in Latin is ambiguus .

To avoid ambiguities, the rules described below must be followed:

• It is necessary to be very concise in the texts, making them understandable and in this way not allowing them to lead to some kind of confusion.
• Other terms that we can use are amphibology, amphibolism, and semantic ambiguity.
• Sometimes we can consider ambiguity as a fallacy (commonly known as equivocation in which the same term is used in more than one way).
• Ambiguity can be favored when using polysemic words since these have more than one meaning and thus can confuse the receiver if he does not know the context of what is being said.
• These words can also generate uncertainty, doubt or hesitation.

types of ambiguity

There are two basic types of ambiguity:

1. Lexical ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single word.
2. Syntactic ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words.

“The multiplicity of meanings is called polysemy”

examples

syntactic ambiguity

• They were not accepted for their results
• They had bad results, so they were not accepted
• They could have been accepted if not for their results
• Yoga is good for people to relax
• People came out very relaxed after yoga.
• When leaving yoga all the people looked very relaxed.
• When I recovered my vision, I saw the mountain again.
• I returned to the place and I have seen the imposing mountain again.

  Lexical ambiguity

the word cat

• The cat (animal) is on the roof.
• I can’t find the jack (tool) to change the car wheel.

the word bank

• I have to go make a deposit to the bank (financial institution).
• I went to the blood bank to volunteer.

Amphibology

It is the equivalent or name given to ambiguity in grammar, and it is treated as a language vice when it is due to an incorrect construction. It is also seen as a figure of speech, when its effect is intended.

Amphibology proves to be a problem in computational linguistics as well as in law, since these disciplines imply working with different types of written documents and verbal agreements of great importance that do not admit mistakes in their understanding.

Amphibology is one of the main problems that computational linguistics has to solve. It is also a problem in law, because the interpretation of written documents and oral agreements is often of paramount importance; This problem transcends the merely linguistic and in the interpretation of ambiguities since these can affect multiple legal, judicial and jurisprudential factors.

References

Definition of ambiguity. Retrieved from https://conceptodefinicion.de/ambiguedad/

Example of ambiguity. Retrieved from https://www.ejemplode.com/12-clases_de_espanol/1916-ejemplo_de_ambiguedad.html

Online encyclopedia of examples. (nd) 20 examples of ambiguity. Retrieved from https://www.ejemplos.co/20-ejemplos-de-ambiguedad/

Pimat, J. (2015). Ambiguous words: a whole world to discover. How to write well. Recovered from https://comoescribirbien.com/palabras-ambiguas/