Ambiguity and vagueness:
Complex links between words
and concepts
Can you pass me the pen?
Homograph : written same
pen v. pen
bass v. bass
Homophone : sound same
write v. right
to v. two
Ambiguous expression:
more than one distinct interpretation (like a Necker cube)
Homophones and homographs are ambiguous words
Vague expression:
some aspect left indeterminate
He ran to the bus.
Polysemy:
cake v. cake (of soap)
chicken v. chicken
Overview
Ambiguity
Vagueness and instantiation
The ambiguity-vagueness spectrum
Ambiguity
1. Psycholinguistic evidence of multiple
access, and early selection in limited
situations
2. Computational models of sense selection
processes
3. Psycholinguistic data on cerebral
hemispheres
Evidence for automatic multiple
access of meanings
Swinney (1979); Onifer & Swinney (1981)
Cross-modal priming with lexical decision.
Listen: The man was not surprised when he found
several spiders, roaches and other bugs@ in the
corner of his room
See target: spy, ant or sun
Response: is it a word?
Results:
targets related to either sense facilitated
whether... in strongly biasing contexts
homonym balanced or 'biased' (e.g. pen)
both nouns, or noun/verb (e.g. duck, saw)
one second later: no facilitation for inappropriate meaning
Evidence for selective access of
meanings
Seidenberg et al. (1982) selective access in
priming (but not biasing) contexts
Biasing - world knowledge could decide
The man walked on the deck
Priming - direct relationships between lexical
items
The man inspected the ship's
deck
Evidence for selective access of
meanings
Tabossi (1988; Tabossi, Colombo & Job, 1987)
Feature priming contexts can select the dominant sense of a
biased homograph (Lexical decision task)
The violent hurricane did not damage the
ships which were in the port.
Facilitation for SAFE but not for RED
Deceived by their identical colour, the host
took a bottle of Barolo, instead of one of
port.
Facilitation for SAFE as well as RED
When features prime subordinate senses: multiple access
Model to resolve correct meaning 1
Adraiens & Small (1988) - word expert parsing
• word represented as a network of tests to
discriminate senses ("expert")
bug:
Was the previous word a determiner?
ANNOY (event)
Assign roles to nearby concepts
Is the topic of ‘spying’ in focus?
LISTENING DEVICE (thing)
Construct that concept
INSECT (thing)
Construct that concept
Model to resolve correct meaning 2
Hirst (1987) Polaroid words
automatic multiple access
Complex system with several parts
Word representations - active
Blackboard
World knowledge store – associative links
SUBJ The slug operated OBJ the vending machine
SUBJ The slug operated OBJ
SUBJ
agent {animate};
patient {a thing};
instrument {physical object};
source {physical object};
destination {physical object}
slug
small slimy garden pest;
stamped piece of metal
operate [cause to function
agent
SUBJ
patient SUBJ, OBJ
instrument SUBJ, with
…]
[perform surgery
agent
SUBJ
patient upon, on
instrument with
…]
OBJ
World knowledge
patient {a thing};
thing transferred {a thing}
agent of operate must be human
SUBJ The slug = instrument
Operate = cause to function
OBJ the vending machine = patient
Model to resolve correct meaning 3
Miller (1996) 'contextual representation'
contexts when word has a given sense
line: 25 -ish senses
• three senses (queue; text; product)
• up to 200 sentences using line in each sense
• statistical techniques look for frequent collocates
(wait; write; sell)
90% accurate if two senses to learn
75% accurate if three senses to learn
Some tricky examples
Can you tell me how to get rid of
bugs?
Ross was escorted from the bar to the
dock.
Complex role for world knowledge and knowledge
of the specific situation, knowledge of the
intended meaning (pragmatics)
Vagueness and instantiation
Barclay et al. (1974)
heavy as a cue for piano or baby
Hörmann (1983)
how many is a few depends on context
Interpretation a dynamic transaction with
knowledge of the world
The ambiguity-vagueness spectrum
Linguistic tests for ambiguity don’t always
give clear cut results
Tuggy’s cognitive grammar analysis
ART, cake, and paint
Geeraerts (1993)
Ambiguity versus vagueness: tests
Linguistic
Logical
Definitional
Three metacognitive criteria for ambiguity:
1. Linguistic zeugma test: On a crossed reading, (a) is fine, but (b)
creates a feeling linguists call zeugma
(a) Your mother's sister is your aunt, and so is your
father's sister.
(b) John is holding a ball for you, and so is the
Psychology Society.
2. Logical contradiction test: On crossed readings, (b) is fine, but (a) is
not
(a) This woman is your aunt but she is not your aunt.
(b) This ball is not a ball.
3. Definitional criterion: Can you write a covering definition?
Pool: gathered liquidity
Tuggy (1993) Polysemy
paint (v.)
painting a portrait in oils on a canvas
painting lines on the road
I have been painting and so has Jane
When does the zeugma go?
Tuggy’s cognitive grammar
analysis
Entrenchment of cognitive structures
Schema – what a set of cognitive structures
share
Salience
Elaborative distance between schema and
instance (the extent of additional cognitive
structure)
Ambiguity
- more than one distinct well-entrenched
cognitive structure
- no well-entrenched elaboratively close schema
ball
entity
spherical toy
formal dance
Vagueness
- no well-entrenched distinct cognitive structures
- well-entrenched elaboratively close schema
aunt
parent's sister
mother's sister
father's sister
ball
entity
spherical toy
formal dance
aunt
parent's sister
mother's sister
father's sister
cake
“a small cake intended for one person only”
“large [cake]… cut into slices”
“fish cakes”
“rice cakes”
“cakes of soap”
cake
COBUILD
{“a small cake intended for one person only”
“large [cake]… cut into slices”}
{“fish cakes”
“rice cakes”}
{“cakes of soap”}
cake
Experiment 1
repertory grid task
Experiment 2
property rating task
cake
‘concept’
representation
small
sweet edible flat
round
flour
birthday cake
0.1
0.8
0.9
0.7
0.8
0.9
rice cake
0.9
0.3
0.9
0.6
0.8
0.1
Adaptive Resonance Theory
Carpenter & Grossberg (1987, 1988)
Plasticity – stability dilemma
plastic – accommodate new patterns
stable – learning a new category must
not mess up old ones
vigilance
vigilance set to 0.98
{small cakes}, {large cakes}, {rice cakes}, {fish cakes}, {soap cakes}
vigilance set to 0.94
{small cakes, large cakes}, {rice cakes, fish cakes}, {soap cakes}
Apply colour to
surface.
Apply makeup to
face.
Apply disinfectant
to patients body.
Tuggy analysis
Apply paint to
surface.
Artistic paint
Paint portraits
Utilitarian paint.
Cover large
area with
single colour of
paint
Decorative paint
Trompe
l’oeil
Paint road
stripes
Paint
trim
Paint
houses
Paint
interior
walls
Paint
exterior
Tuggy paint
(a) artistic
trim (eg. border on wall)
(b) utilitarian
2. lipstick
3. medication
Dictionary paint
COBUILD (usage based)
utilitarian paint (walls & other objects)
paint a picture
paint a design or message on a surface
lipstick
with words
Dictionary paint
OED
1. (a) 1290 paint a picture
(b) 1386 do that on a wall
(c) 1561 with words
2. 1250 utilitarian paint (wall, door etc.)
3. 1382 lipstick (“Forsothe Iezabel.. peyntyde hyre eezen with strumpetis oyntment…”)
4. 1861 medication applied with a brush
5. 1853 to drink (obsolete)
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WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour Canvas
Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
Participant number 3
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WaterColour Canvas Mural OutWall
WaterColour Canvas Mural OutWall
WaterColour Canvas Mural OutWall
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
Dyellow WBorder Ceiling Car Table Lipstick
WaterColour
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Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Canvas Mural OutWall
Participant number 18
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Car
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Table
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Lipstick
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Lipstick
Overview
Ambiguity
Vagueness and instantiation
The ambiguity-vagueness spectrum