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Before explaining the term lexical ambiguity, let's define the word 'lexical'. 'Lexis' means 'words'. Lexical is the adjective form of lexis. So 'Lexical ambiguity' means 'word ambiguity'.
Lexical ambiguity happens when a word with two or more meanings is used in a way which causes more than one possible interpretation. This often happens when the speaker/author doesn't have the same background information as the listener/reader (ie. Not enough contextual information). For example:
Give me the bat!
The bat can be interpreted in two ways:
A baseball bat or a cricket bat (used for sports).
A flying, nocturnal animal.
Without context, it isn't clear whether the speaker is referring to the first or second of these meanings. This can cause ambiguity.
Ambiguous words can arise from different parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, or a combination of these. Here are some examples of lexical ambiguity:
Noun-noun:
Metal - 'a substance' or 'a music genre'
Fan - 'a machine' or 'an admirer'
Lexical Ambiguity noun-noun example, pixaby.com
Verb-noun:
Scrub - 'to clean' or 'special clothes worn by surgeons' or 'exfoliator'
Noun phrase:
Funny man - 'amusing man' or 'strange man'
Lexical ambiguity can be classified into two types: polysemy and homonymy. Both cases involve an ambiguous meaning. The differences lie in the word form and the relationship of the multiple meanings.
Polysemy describes a single word with many related meanings. The multiple definitions are listed under one entry in a dictionary, eg, as a noun or verb (word form 1 has meaning 1 and meaning 2).
Some examples of polysemic words include:
Bar (noun).
Get (verb).
Light (adjective).
Homonymy refers to words that are pronounced the same or spelt the same (or both), but their meanings aren't related to each other. The different words are listed under separate entries in dictionaries, eg, as a noun and verb (word form 1 has meaning 1; word form 2 has meaning 2).
Some examples of homonyms are:
Bar (noun & verb).
Light (adjective & noun).
Cool (adjective & noun).
There are two more specific terms that only concern either spelling or pronunciation. These are called homographs and homophones.
A homophone is a word that has different meanings and spellings but is pronounced the same. For example, a while - awhile, bee - be, cell - sell, cord - chord, beet - beat.
A homograph is a word that has different meanings and pronunciations but is spelt the same. For example, to live - live (live show), to lead - a lead (metal), a bass (a fish) - a bass (bass guitar).
The differences in homonyms, StudySmarter Originals
Structural ambiguity occurs when the structure of a sentence causes multiple interpretations. It is also known as syntactic ambiguity. For example, the sentences/phrase below can cause some ambiguities:
He bought some blue books and pens.
Students who mess around occasionally apologize.
A modern English textbook
Lexical and Structural Ambiguity differ in what causes the multiple interpretations.
Lexical Ambiguity refers to an ambiguity that is produced by the multiple meanings of a word. The listener/reader isn't sure what the speaker/writer means at the word level.
Structural ambiguity refers to an ambiguity that is caused by the structure of a sentence.
That being said, in both cases, clarity and accuracy depend on how the information is transmitted, received, and processed. If the speakers/writers have the same reference or background information as the listeners/readers, ambiguities can be avoided. If both parties have little in common, the chance of experiencing ambiguities is higher.
Lexical ambiguity is an ambiguity that is caused by the multiple meanings of a word.
An example of lexical ambiguity is metal - 'a substance' or 'a music genre'.
The types of lexical ambiguity are polysemy and homonymy.
Structural ambiguity is an ambiguity that is caused by the structure of a sentence.
Lexical and structural ambiguity differ in terms of what causes the various interpretations. Lexical ambiguity is caused by the multiple meanings of a word, whereas structural ambiguity is caused by the structure of a sentence.
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