Ambiguity
Truong Van Anh
Sai Gon University

Disambiguate the following phrases or sentences:
1. An old car enthusiast

• A car enthusiast who is old
• An enthusiast about old cars

2. A foreign language teacher

• A language teacher who is foreign
• A teacher of a foreign language

3. The basic book service

• The service for basic books
• The book service that is basic

4. The late summer's roses

• The roses of the late summer
• The late roses of summer

5. Her new doll's house

• Her doll's house is new.
• The house belongs to her new doll.

6. An old girl's bicycle

• A girl's bicycle that is old
• A bicycle for an old girl

7. A small arms factory

• An arns factory which is small
• A fatory for small arms

8. The world women's congress

• The congress of the world women
• The women's congress of the world

9. A nice women's fur coat

• A woman's fur coat that is nice
• A fur coat for a nice woman

10. That greasy kid stuff

• That stuff for greasy kids
• That kid stuff which is greasy

11. hot car deals

• Car deals that are hot
• Deals in hot cars

12. Egyptian cotton shirt

• A cotton shirt made in Egypt.
• A shirt made of Egyptian cotton.

13. The old man and woman

• The man who is old and woman
• The old man and the old woman

14. An American history teacher

• A teacher of American history
• An American teacher of history

15. The hatred of the killers.

• Someone hated the killers
• The killers hated someone.

Ambiguity due to Ellipsis
1. He loves the dog more than his wife.

• He loves the dog more than his wife loves the
dog.
• He loves the dog more than he loves his wife.

2. We like Shakespeare more than Shaw.

• We like Shakespeare more than Shakespeare
likes Shaw.
• We like Shakespeare more than we like Shaw.

3. His son's loss grieved him.

• His son lost something, which grieved him.
• He lost his son, which grieved him.

4. We bought one of Rutherford's paintings.

• We bought one of the paintings belonging to
Rutherford.
• We bought one of the paintings painted by
Rutherford.
• Rutherford painted a painting which we
bought.
• Someone painted Rutherford a painting which
we bought.

5. He was carrying a woman's coat on his arm.

• He was carrying on his arm a coat belonging to
a certain woman.
• He was carrying on his arm a coat designed for
women's wear.

6. This is my father's photograph.

• This photograph belongs to my father.
• Someone took my father a snapshot.

7. Dr. McCoy's examination was a long one.

• Someone assigned Dr. McCoy
examination.
• Dr. McCoy assigned someone
examination.

a

long

a

long

8. They are watching dogs.

• Some people are watching dogs.
• Watching dogs are over there for people to
see.

9. They are encouraging reports.

• People are encouraging reports.
• These reports are encouraging.

10. I saw her in the street.