ExCh1 Ambiguity 1a-b: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:50, 28 September 2012

Example sentence: Pat didn't know a guest at the party.

Yes, your answer is correct!

This is a structural ambiguity.

The two readings are:

(a) Pat knew no guest at the party.

More formally: It is not the case that there was a guest at the party that Pat knew.

(b) There was one guest at the party Pat didn't know.

More formally: There was a guest at that party such that it is not the case that Pat knew this guest.

Follow the link to get more explanations.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Example sentence: ''Pat didn't know a guest at the party.''
-Sorry, your answer is not correct.
+Yes, your answer is correct!
-This is not a lexical ambiguity.
+This is a structural ambiguity.
-Of course, you could argue that the name ''Pat'' could either refer to a female person (short for ''Patricia'') or a male person (short for ''Patrick''). In this sense, it would be a lexical ambiguity.
+The two readings are:
+:: (a) ''Pat knew no guest at the party.''<br />
+More formally: ''It is not the case that there was a guest at the party that Pat knew.''
+:: (b) ''There was one guest at the party Pat didn't know.''<br />
+More formally: ''There was a guest at that party such that it is not the case that Pat knew this guest.''
-However, we are after a different type of ambiguity here. Try again or check the [[Types of ambiguity|explanations]] again.
+Follow the link to get more [[Types of ambiguity|explanations]].
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