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Milky Posted 19 years ago
Linguistics Studies
Ambiguity, or not?
0 00 Sheila seduces easily and willingly. 02 br
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00 Davidse , 1991, shows us that the above sentence can be interpreted as meaning either: Sheila is the target of someone else's seducing or that she is the agent of seducing and does so easily and willingly. 02 br
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00 She then goes on to say that when the adverbs are reversed, only the latter reading is possible: 02 br
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00 Sheila seduces willingly and easily. 02 br
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00 Personally, I can still see ambiguity in the 00 reversed 00 example. How about you? 00 0-
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00 Davidse , 1991, shows us that the above sentence can be interpreted as meaning either: Sheila is the target of someone else's seducing or that she is the agent of seducing and does so easily and willingly. 02 br
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00 She then goes on to say that when the adverbs are reversed, only the latter reading is possible: 02 br
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00 Sheila seduces willingly and easily. 02 br
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00 Personally, I can still see ambiguity in the 00 reversed 00 example. How about you? 00 0-
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35 Answers
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0 Doesn't the very fact that we find it ambiguous make it ambiguous? 0-
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01 cite 10 Forbes 12 cite 10 Doesn't the very fact that we find it ambiguous make it ambiguous? 12 blockquote10 Not sure I understnad your point there, Forbes. Davidse has said that in the latter context above, it is not ambiguous. 0-
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0 00 Forbes, Davidse states that this can only have one meaning "Sheila seduces willingly and easily". I disagree with here. How about you? 00 0-
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0 For me, both versions are ambiguous; but the proximity of "easily" to the verb seems to tilt the sentence towards the "Sheila = the patient" interpretation in the first version, and of "willingly", towards the "Sheila = the agent" interpretation in the second. 02 br
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00 MrP 0-
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00 MrP 0-
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0 Ambiguity is in the eye of the beholder. We all find it ambiguous so it must be. 0-
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0 I find neither ambiguous. To me, Sheila is obviously agent in both. 02 br
00 Perhaps a perception of ambiguity stems from an admirably learned understanding and comfortability with what seem to me to be archaic usages. 02 br
00 To me, in order for Sheila to be the 'patient' it would need to be 'Sheila can be seduced ...' 02 br
00 As I alluded, I am probably just not
00 Perhaps a perception of ambiguity stems from an admirably learned understanding and comfortability with what seem to me to be archaic usages. 02 br
00 To me, in order for Sheila to be the 'patient' it would need to be 'Sheila can be seduced ...' 02 br
00 As I alluded, I am probably just not
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01 cite 10 Anonymous 12 cite 10 I find neither ambiguous. To me, Sheila is obviously agent in both. 12 br
10 Perhaps a perception of ambiguity stems from an admirably learned understanding and comfortability with what seem to me to be archaic usages. 12 br
10 To me, in order for Sheila to be the 'patient' it would need to be '
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0 In my opinion it is not a matter of being well read. It is just that you have to create a context that allows you to have another interpretation of the sentence. I can imagine a situation where Sheila is seduced by someone and a friend of her tells you that Sheila seduces easily and willingly. 02 br
00 Hmmm, maybe not the best example, but here the second interpretation becomes quite
00 Hmmm, maybe not the best example, but here the second interpretation becomes quite
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