Ambiguity in Language

Ambiguity in Language

If everything we know is viewed as a transition from something else,

every experience must have a double meaning or for every meaning there

must be two aspects. All meaning is only meaningful in reference to,

and in distinction from, other meanings; there is no meaning in any

stable or absolute sense. Meanings are multiple, changing, and

contextual. SIGMUND FREUD

Language, being a system of communication, has a very delicate job to

perform, particularly when it is being used by us humans. It does not

merely communicate words as impersonal and isolated entities. Words,

in their train bring a set of emotions, beliefs, customs, situations,

circumstances etc and a particular state of mind. Words in fact

communicate a whole personality and that’s why their correct usage has

so much importance. But no language in the world has so far been able

to claim that it is capable of communicating all that a human wants to

communicate to another human. Despite the immense progress till the

present age, miscommunication is rampant all across the globe. We

often hear the expression, “oh! I find it difficult to express the

way I feel” but even if we do express ourselves in the best possible

manner, there will still be traces of some kind of ambiguity in our

expression. Meanings have outnumbered the expressions throughout the

ages.

Ambiguity can be defined as something that can be understood in two or

more senses or ways. In other words, the term ambiguity applies where

there is more than one deep structure to a given surface structure.

Ambiguity can be caused due to a number of factors...

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...here is no operational computer system capable of

determining the intended meanings of words in discourse exists today.

Nevertheless, solving the polysemy problem is so important that all

efforts will continue.

CONCLUSION

Language cannot exist without ambiguity which has represented both a

curse and a blessing through the ages.

Since there is no one "truth" and no absolutes, we can only rely on

relative truths arising from groups of people who, within their

particular cultural systems, attempt to answer their own questions and

meet their needs for survival.

Language is a very complex phenomenon. Meanings that can be taken for

granted are in fact only the tip of a huge iceberg. Psychological,

social and cultural events provide a moving ground on which those

meanings take root and expand their branches.