Aspects of Sentential Meaning
A. PARAPHRASE
B. AMBIGUITY
Ambiguity is the property of having two or more distinct meanings or
interpretations. A word or sentence is ambiguous if it can be interpreted in more
than one way. Huford and Heasley (1983 :121) says: “a word or a sentence is
ambiguous when it has more than one sense”. It means that an expression is
ambiguous when there is multiplicity of senses versus uniqueness of senses.
This ambiguous expression can happen in one word, phrase, or sentence. The
results of ambiguous expression are vague unclear, and make doubt.
According to Harford and Heasley (1983:128), there are two kinds of ambiguity:
1) Lexical Ambiguity
Harford and Heasley 91983:128) states, “lexical ambiguity is resulting
the ambiguity of word”. It means that the word in a sentence has more
than one sense. Lexical ambiguity of the expression is resulted from a
polysemous word, e.g. a word that has more than one meaning. As
Palmer (1976:67) states that “polysemy is one word with several
meanings”. It can be disambiguated by giving further information.
Examples:
a) We can fish.
There are two senses from this sentence, they are:
to be able to; to have the ability to do something
to preserve food, fruit, liquid, etc. by putting them in a
sealed can (i.e., a metal container)
b) The cranes are here.
There are two senses from this sentence, they are:
a large machine or device with a long arm which is used to
lift and move heavy
weights at construction sites.
a large bird with long legs and a long neck
c) Look at the spring.
There are three senses from this sentence, they are:
Season of the year
A coiled piece of metal
A source of water
2) Structural Ambiguity
Harford and Heasley (1983:128) states that “structural ambiguity
happens because its words relate to each other in different ways, even
though none of the individual word is ambiguous”. It means that an
expression is ambiguous in structure if it is resulted from the way the
constituents are grouped into larger syntactic unit.
Examples:
a) We need more intelligent leaders.
We need leaders that are more intelligent.
We need more leaders that are intelligent.
b) Visiting strangers can be dangerous.
The strangers who are visiting can be dangerous.
To visit the strangers can be dangerous.
These sentences are structurally ambiguous. Notice its possible
constituent structures (and meanings). However there may be some
structural ambiguities that can not be disambiguated in the same way.
Examples:
a. They hated shooting the hunter
They hated shooting the hunter
They hated the hunter’s shooting
b. The chicken is ready to eat
The chicken is ready to eat
The chicken is ready to be eaten
C. TAUTOLOGY
Tautology is the repetitive use of phrases or words that have similar
meanings. In simple words, it is expressing the same thing, an idea, or saying,
two or more times. The word tautology is derived from the Greek word tauto,
meaning “the same,” and logos, meaning “a word or an idea.” A grammatical
tautology refers to an idea repeated within a phrase, paragraph, or sentence to
give an impression that the writer is providing extra information.
Tautologies are very common in the English language due to the large
variety of words it has borrowed from other languages. Given the fact that,
during its evolution, the English language has been greatly influenced by
several other languages – including Germanic and Latin – it is not uncommon
to find several exotic tautologies. This is how tautologies can often be found in
English poetry and prose.
1. Types of Tautology
There are several types of tautology that are commonly used in
everyday life, in poetry, in prose, in songs, and in discussions, depending
on the requirements of a situation. Some of the
common categories include:
Repetitive words used due to inadequacies in the language
Intentional ambiguities
Derision
Poetic device
Psychological significance
Speech by inept speaker or narrator
2. Examples of Tautology in Literature
Tautology is often confused with repetition. Some authorities say
repetition uses the same words, while tautology uses words with similar
meanings. That tautology is the repetition – not of words, but of ideas.
Others say there is no clear distinction between the two, that tautology
includes the repetition of words. To understand this better, read the
following examples of Tautology.
D. ANOMALY
An expression is anomalous when there is an incompatibility of meaning
between constituent expressions. Anomaly results when the selectional
features of one member of the construction are not satisfied by the member in
construction with it. Examples:
1. I heard the trees whispering.
Sentence (1), I heard the trees whispering has the syntactic rule, but the
sentence refers to anomaly because their constituent are thought to be
unable denoting in any word spoken of.
The combination of the words trees and whispering are incongruous. The
word trees has the semantics property ‘inanimate’, and whispering has
semantic property of ‘animate’.
Example:
a) Your acting is completely devoid of emotion.
(Devoid is defined as “completely empty.” Thus, completely devoid is an
example of tautology).
b) Repeat that again,” and “reiterate again.“
(To repeat or reiterate something is to do or say it again).