Clarity vs Ambiguity

“India on Monday reported its first death due to the H1N1 flu infection, with a 14-year-old girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly influenza virus.”

I came across the above sentence on 4 August 2009 in a news report of a leading daily. What is wrong with the sentence? What does the word ‘its’ refer to? Very obviously the word refers to India. If that is the case, is it India’s first death? Is India going to die again?

The sentence is ambiguous. It is a faulty sentence construction and as a result the meaning changes. In order to convey the intended meaning clearly the sentence can be reconstructed as follows:

India on Monday reported the first swine flu death in the country, with a 14-year-old girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly influenza virus.

If a piece of writing is concise and clear, it conveys the intended meaning to the reader. A good piece of writing is free from ambiguity. Ambiguity can be defined as “a statement that contains two or more meanings, or a statement that is unclear”.

There are two types of ambiguity: semantic ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity.

Syntactic ambiguity arises as a result of the structure or syntax of a sentence. It arises not from the range of meanings of single words, but from the relationship between the words and clauses of a sentence, and the sentence structure implied thereby.

Look at this example of syntactic ambiguity.

· My teacher killed the robber with a gun.

Who had the gun? It is not clear whether the teacher or the robber possessed a gun or whether the teacher killed the robber by using a gun.

If the intended meaning is that the robber who had a gun was killed by the teacher, then the sentence should be reconstructed as follows:

· The teacher killed the robber who had a gun.

If the intended meaning is that the teacher killed the robber by using a gun, then the sentence should be reconstructed as follows:

· The teacher shot the robber dead.

Here is another example:

· Presenting a paper on web-based language learning, the director of the language institute asked the research scholar a question.

Who presented the paper? The director of the institute or the research scholar? Because of faulty sentence structure, the intended meaning of the statement is not clear. The sentence can be rewritten based on the meaning intended by the speaker / writer of the sentence.

· While the director of the language institute was presenting a paper on web-based language learning, he / she asked the research scholar a question.

· While the research scholar was presenting a paper on web-based language learning, the director of the language institute asked the scholar a question.

Semantic ambiguity “arises when a word or concept has an inherently diffuse meaning based on widespread or informal usage.” Look at this example:

· Our mothers bore us.

The sentence is ambiguous. The word ‘bore’ has more than one meaning. In fact, it has 24 different meanings. As the past tense of the word ‘bear’ it means ‘to give birth to’ and the word ‘bore’ also means ‘to cause boredom or ennui’.

As the meaning of the sentence is not clear, it can be interpreted in two ways: 1) Our mothers are boring, and 2) Our mothers give birth to us.

Here is another example:

· Fifty-five teachers attended the refresher course and there was not a single woman.

The word ‘single’ has more than one meaning. If we assume that the meaning of the word ‘single’ is ‘not married’, the sentence can be interpreted as the teachers were married women.

Is ambiguity in writing a bad thing? It depends on the subject matter. Ambiguity in writing can be either intentional or unintentional. Ambiguity can be used as a literary device to effectively strengthen one’s writing in several ways.

The adverts below are funny because of spelling errors or ambiguity or faulty sentence construction.

1. Great Dames for sale. (Great Dane is a breed of dog whereas a dame is a woman)
2. Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition. (Ambiguity: Is the grandmother in beautiful condition?)

3. For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers. (Ambiguity: Does the lady have thick legs and large drawers?)

4. Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children. (Ambiguity: The dog is fond of eating children)

5. Get rid of aunts: Zap does the job in 24 hours. (Spelling error: ants and not aunts)

6. A superb and inexpensive restaurant. Fine food expertly served by waitresses in appetizing forms. (Ambiguity: Are the waitresses in appetizing forms?)

7. For Sale -- Eight puppies from a German Shepherd and an Alaskan Hussy. (The Alaskan Husky is a type of dog whereas a hussy is a woman considered immoral.)

8. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand. (Ambiguity: Do they tear your clothing by hand?)

9. Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it. (Ambiguity: What does ‘it’ refer to? Is the person going to clean you?)

10. Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Adults: $10.00 Children $5.00. (Ambiguity: Are adults and children served at the dinner table?)

Here is another funny sentence from a newspaper:
James Klindt, who spent more than a year in the Quad-City spotlight for murdering and dismembering his wife, has opened a tiny eatery at 4th and Howell streets in Davenport, called Eats and Sweets.

Send in your feedback and English language related queries to Albert P’Rayan at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk