AMBIGUITY
Ambiguity
is to be distinguished, one must rely on the basic concepts of traditional
semantics: meaning, denotation, and connotation. Meaning is cognitive meaning, in the sense of Alston (1964, p. 74),
or conceptual meaning, in the sense of
Leech (1974, pp. 10-13). The denotation of an
expression is the set of objects to which it truly applies; and the connotation of an expression is the property, or
properties, possession of which by an object licenses the application of an
expression to it. These are, of course, the concepts of connotation and
denotation found in J. S. Mill (1843, Bk I, chap. 2). In traditional semantics,
these three concepts are related as follows: the meaning of an expression fixes
its connotation, and its connotation, in turn, fixes its denotation.
1.
An
expression is ambiguous iff the expression has more than one meaning.
An example of an
ambiguous expression is the word 'pike': it can mean a kind of fish, or it can
mean a kind of weapon. Indeterminacy is quite a different concept. It was
stated above that the meaning of an expression fixes its connotation. The
connotation of an expression must be possessed by each object in its
denotation. In this way, an expression determines that the object in its
denotation possess certain properties, namely, the properties which are its
connotation, and not possess certain others, namely, those incompatible with
its connotation. It does not determine any other properties. It is with respect
to these last properties that an expression is indeterminate.
2.
An
expression is indeterminate iff there is some property which neither is
included in the expression's connotation nor is a species of any property
included in its connotation.
For example, the
word 'square' is indeterminate, since its connotation does not include or
exclude being any particular size; and the word 'mother' is indeterminate,
since its connotation does not include or exclude being of any particular
ethnic origin. In fact, every common noun is, presumably, indeterminate
inasmuch as, for any common noun, there is undoubtedly some property which its
connotation does not either include or exclude. Yet, it need not be the case
that every common noun be ambiguous. Therefore, one concludes that indetermi-
nacy and ambiguity are distinct. Generality is distinct from both indeterminacy
and ambiguity, though it is frequently confused with the former.
3.
An
expression is general iff the expression's connotation is a genus of more than
one species.
For example:
metal: gold, copper, silver, iron,
mercury,...
color: red, green, blue,...
tree: birch, oak, maple,...
parent: mother, father.
Generality and
ambiguity are distinct: an expression may be general without being ambiguous
and an expression may be ambiguous without being general. An expression may be
ambiguous, that is, have only one meaning, though its one meaning fixes a
connotation in which there is a genus of distinct species. Generality and
indeterminacy are also distinct, since every common noun is indeterminate but
not every common noun is general. Other definitions of generality have been
suggested. Consider the one which can be found in articles by Roberts (1984,
pp. 300-301) and by Margalit (1983, p. 132):
4.
An
expression is general iff a meaning of the expression is disjunctive.
If the meaning
of an expression on the basis of which it is general is formulated, then the
meaning would have the form of a disjunction. So, the formulation of the
meaning of 'metal' whereby it is general with respect to being gold, being
silver, etc., would be in the form of a disjunction. But this definition
affords little theoretical insight into generality, since, without any
formalization of meaning, the concept of disjunctive meaning remains completely
obscure.
Inspiration has
long been observed that there are semantic relations which obtain between
lexical entries in the lexicon of a language. Synonymy and antonymy are two
such relations. Another is hyperonymy, or super- ordination. This relation is
used to explicate the fact that the lexicon of a language reflects taxonomies
of various kinds.
5.
A
word is general with respect to another word iff the conno- tation of the
former is a genus of the connotation of the latter.
Considering the
examples in (3), one sees that the word 'parent' is general with respect to the
word 'mother' and that the word 'tree' is general with respect to the word
'maple'. The inspiration for the definition in (4) is that a general expression
can be paraphrased by an expression made up of a disjunction of expressions.
So, for example, the word 'parent' can be paraphrased by the expression 'mother
or father'. The assumption, then, is that the meaning of a general expression
will reflect the disjunction of its para- phrase.
(E-book
of Ambiguity, Generality, and Indeterminacy: tests and definitions - Brendan S.
Gillon)
Ambiguity is a word, phrase, or statement which
contains more than one meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness
and confusion, and shape the basis for instances of unintentional humor. For instance, it is ambiguous to
say “I rode a black horse in red pajamas,” because it may lead us to think the
horse was wearing red pajamas. The sentence becomes clear when it is
restructured “wearing red pajamas, I rode a black horse”. Similarly, same words
with different meanings can cause ambiguity, for example “John took off his
trousers by the bank”. It is funny if we confuse one meaning of “bank” which is
a building, to another meaning, being “an edge of a river”.
Below
are some common examples of ambiguity:
1.
A
good life depends on a liver – Liver may be an
organ or simply a living person.
2.
Foreigners
are hunting dogs – It is unclear whether dogs were
being hunted or foreigners are being spoken of as dogs.
3.
Each
of us saw her duck – It is unclear whether the word
“duck” refers to an action of ducking or a duck that is a bird.
4.
The
passerby helps dog bite victim – Is the passerby
helping a dog bite someone? Or is he helping a person bitten by a dog? It’s not
clear
Although ambiguity is considered a flaw in writing,
many writers use this technique to allow readers to understand their works in a
variety of ways, there are ambiguity examples in literature:
1. The
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
“I
ran all the way to the main gate, and then I waited a second till I got my
breath. I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. I’a quite a heavy
smoker, for one thing – that is, I used to be. They made me cut it out. Another
thing, I grew six and half inches last year. That’s also how I practically got
t.b. and came out here for all these goddam checkups and stuff. I’m pretty
healthy though”.
The words “they”
and “here” used by the speaker are ambiguous. But the readers are allowed to
presume from the context that “they”might be proffesionals helping out Holden
and “here” might be a rehabilitation centre.
2. The
Sick Rose by William Blake
“O
Rose thou art sick.
The
invisible worm,
That
flies in the night
In
the howling storm:
Has
found out thy bed
Of
crimson joy;
And
his dark secret love
Does
thy life destroy”.
Many of the
words in the above lines show ambiguity. We can not say for sure what “crimson
bed of joy” means: neither can we be exact about the interpretation of “dark
secret love”. The ambiguous nature of such phrases allows readers to explore
for deeper meanings of the poem.
Some of those who have analyzed
this poem believe that “Has found out thy bed, Of crimson joy” refers to making
love.
3. Ode
to a Grecian Urn by Keats
“Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness”.
The use of wors
“still” is ambiguous in nature. “Still” here may mean “an unmoving object” or
it may be interpreted as “yet unchanged”.
Ambiguity in literature
serves the purpose of lending a deeper meaning to a literary work. By introducting
ambiguity in their works, writers give liberty to the readers to use their
imagination to explore meanings. This active participation of the readers
involves them in the prose or poetry they read.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar