Syntactic ambiguity, also known as structural ambiguity, amphiboly, or amphibology, is characterized by the potential for a sentence to yield multiple interpretations due to its ambiguous syntax. This form of ambiguity is not derived from the varied meanings of individual words but rather from the relationships among words and clauses within a sentence, concealing interpretations beneath the word order. Consequently, a sentence presents as syntactically ambiguous when it permits reasonable derivation of several possible grammatical structures by an observer. In jurisprudence, the interpretation of syntactically ambiguous phrases in statutory texts or contracts may be done by courts. Occasionally, claims based on highly improbable interpretations of such ambiguities are dismissed as being frivolous litigation and without merit. The term parse forest refers to the collection of all possible syntactic structures, known as parse trees, that can represent the ambiguous sentence's meanings. The task of clarifying which meaning is actually intended from among the possibilities is known as syntactic disambiguation.
Different forms
Globally ambiguous A globally ambiguous sentence is one that has at least two distinct interpretations and where reading the entire sentence does not resolve the ambiguity. Globally ambiguous sentences exist where no feature of the representation (e.g., word order and/or grammatical inflection) distinguishes the possible distinct interpretations. Global ambiguities are often unnoticed because readers tend to choose the interpretation they understand to be more probable. One example of a global ambiguity is "The woman held the baby in the green blanket." In this example, the baby, incidentally wrapped in the green blanket, is being held by the woman, or the woman is using the green blanket as an instrument to hold the baby, or the woman is wrapped in the green blanket and holding the baby.
Locally ambiguous A locally ambiguous sentence is a sentence that contains an ambiguous phrase but has only one interpretation. The ambiguity in a locally ambiguous sentence briefly stays and is resolved, i.e., disambiguated, by the end of the sentence. Sometimes, local ambiguities can result in garden-path sentences, in which a structurally correct sentence is difficult to interpret because one interpretation of the ambiguous region is not the one that makes most sense.
Examples "The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose." — Henry VI (1.4.30), by William Shakespeare Henry will depose the duke. The duke will depose Henry. Amphiboly occurs frequently in poetry, sometimes owing to the alteration of the natural order of words for metrical reasons. "Eduardum occidere nolite timere bonum est." — Edward II by Christopher Marlowe Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March supposedly plotted to murder Edward II of England in such a way as not to draw blame on themselves, sending this order in Latin which changes meaning depending on where the comma is placed. Do not be afraid to kill Edward; it is good. (either killing Edward or not being afraid to kill him is good) Do not kill Edward; it is good to fear. (The act of killing Edward is good to fear) "I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola" from the song "Lola" by the Kinks (written by Ray Davies) Lola and I are both glad I'm a man. I'm glad I'm a man, and Lola is also a man. I'm glad I'm a man, and Lola is also glad to be a man. "John saw the man on the mountain with a telescope." John, using a telescope, saw a man on a mountain. John saw a man on a mountain which had a telescope on it. John saw a man on a mountain who had a telescope. John, on a mountain and using a telescope, saw a man. John, on a mountain, saw a man who had a telescope. "The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, the prophet." – Zechariah 1:7 ... the prophet Zechariah, who was the son of Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo ... Zechariah, who was the son of the prophet Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo ... Zechariah, who was the son of Berekiah, who was the son of the prophet Iddo ... the prophet Zechariah, who was the son of Berekiah and Iddo ... Zechariah, who was the son of Berekiah and Iddo, the prophet Lesbian Vampire Killers, the title of a 2009 comedy-horror film Lesbians who kill vampires. Killers of lesbian vampires. Lesbian vampires that are killers. "The Purple People Eater", a 1958 novelty song by Sheb Wooley A purple creature that eats people. A creature that eats purple people. (This interpretation is confirmed in the lyrics, although whether the creature itself is also purple is never made clear.) "British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands", a 1982 headline in The Guardian The left-leaning British political party is indecisive about Falkland Island policy. British people are responsible for leaving waffles (the breakfast item) on the Falkland Islands. Aristotle writes about an influence of ambiguities on arguments and also about this influence depending on either combination or division of words:
... if one combines the words 'to write-while-not-writing': for then it means, that he has the power to write and not to write at once; whereas if one does not combine them, it means that when he is not writing he has the power to write.
In headlines Newspaper headlines are often written in headlinese, a compressed register that frequently omits function words such as the copula. This omission can create syntactic ambiguity, often in the form of garden-path sentences, in which an initial interpretation turns out to be incorrect. The term crash blossom was coined by Dan Bloom in the Testy Copy Editors discussion group to describe such headlines. The name comes from the headline "Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms" which initially appears to describe a Japan Air Lines plane crash involving "blossoms", rather than a violinist whose career blossomed after being linked to the crash. The Columbia Journalism Review has reprinted crash blossom headlines in the column "The Lower Case" and has published anthologies of them called "Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim" and "Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge". The Language Log blog has an extensive archive of crash blossoms, including:
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