amb|guous

ad[ect|ve /amblgyoors/
1 %of language) Cpen Lo more Lhan one lnLerpreLaLlon havlng a double meanlng
4 Lhe quesLlon ls raLher amb|guous
4 amb|guous phrases

2 Dnclear or lnexacL because a cholce beLween alLernaLlves has noL been made
4 Lhls whole socleLy ls morally amb|guous
4 Lhe elecLlon resulL was amb|guous

kedundancy ln language may refer Lo
edundancy %llngulsLlcs) Lhe consLrucLlon of a phrase LhaL presenLs some ldea
uslng more lnformaLlon ofLen vla mulLlple means Lhan ls necessary for one Lo
be able undersLand Lhe ldea
@auLology %rheLorlc) an unnecessary or unessenLlal %and someLlmes
unlnLenLlonal) repeLlLlon of meanlng uslng dlfferenL and dlsslmllar words LhaL
effecLlvely say Lhe same Lhlng Lwlce %ofLen orlglnally from dlfferenL languages)
9leonasm Lhe use of more words or wordparLs Lhan ls necessary for clear
expresslon ofLen redundanLly
ogorrhoea %llngulsLlcs) an excesslve flow of words more generally

A |gure o speech ls Lhe use of a word or words dlverglng from lLs usual meanlng lL
can also be a speclal repeLlLlon arrangemenL or omlsslon of words wlLh llLeral
meanlng or a phrase wlLh a speclallzed meanlng noL based on Lhe llLeral meanlng of
Lhe words ln lL as ln ldlom meLaphor slmlle hyperbole or personlflcaLlon llgures
of speech ofLen provlde emphasls freshness of expresslon or clarlLy Powever
clarlLy may also suffer from Lhelr use as any flgure of speech lnLroduces an
amblgulLy beLween llLeral and flguraLlve lnLerpreLaLlon A flgure of speech ls
someLlmes called a rheLorlcal flgure or a locuLlon
noL all Lheorles of meanlng have a concepL of llLeral language %see llLeral and
flguraLlve language) Dnder Lheorles LhaL do noL flqote of speecb ls noL an enLlrely
coherenL concepL
heLorlc orlglnaLed as Lhe sLudy of Lhe ways ln whlch a source LexL can be
Lransformed Lo sulL Lhe goals of Lhe person reuslng Lhe maLerlal lor Lhls
goal classlcal rheLorlc deLecLed four fundamenLal operaLlons
1
LhaL can be used Lo
Lransform a senLence or a larger porLlon of a LexL expanslon abrldgemenL swlLchlng
and Lransferrlng

@he flgure of speech comes ln many varleLles @he alm ls Lo use Lhe language
lnvenLlvely Lo accenLuaLe Lhe effecL of whaL ls belng sald A few examples follow
ound Lhe rugged rocks Lhe ragged rascal ran ls an example of alllLeraLlon
where Lhe consonanL t ls used repeaLedly Whereas SlsLer Suzy sewlng socks
for soldlers ls a parLlcular form of alllLeraLlon called slbllance because lL repeaLs
Lhe leLLer s 8oLh are commonly used ln poeLry
She would run up Lhe sLalrs and Lhen a new seL of curLalns ls a varleLy
of zeugma called a syllepsls oo op refers Lo ascendlng and also Lo
manufacLurlng @he effecL ls enhanced by Lhe momenLary suggesLlon Lhrough
a pun LhaL she mlghL be cllmblng up Lhe curLalns @he elllpsls or omlsslon of Lhe
second use of Lhe verb makes Lhe reader Lhlnk harder abouL whaL ls belng sald
MlllLary lnLelllgence ls an oxymoron ls Lhe use of dlrecL sarcasm Lo suggesL LhaL
Lhe mlllLary would have no lnLelllgence @hls mlghL be consldered Lo be
a saLlre and a Lerse aphorlsm 8uL hes a soldler so he has Lo be an LlnsLeln ls
Lhe use of sarcasm Lhrough lrony for Lhe same effecL @he use of hyperbole by
uslng Lhe word lostelo calls aLLenLlon Lo Lhe lronlc lnLenL Ao lostelo ls an
example of synechdoche as lL uses a parLlcular name Lo represenL a class of
people genluses
l had buLLerflles ln my sLomach ls a meLaphor referrlng Lo my nervousness
feellng as lf Lhere were flylng lnsecLs ln my sLomach @o say lL was llke havlng
some buLLerflles ln my sLomach would be a slmlle because lL uses Lhe
word lke whlch ls mlsslng ln Lhe meLaphor

|nerence

Lhe acL or process of lnferrlng
2someLhlng LhaL ls lnferred to moke tosb lofeteoces
oqlc
aLhe process of derlvlng Lhe sLrlcL loglcal consequencesof assumed premlses
bLhe process of arrlvlng aL some concluslon LhaL LhoughlL ls noL loglcally derlvable fr
om Lhe assumed premlsespossesses some degree of probablllLy relaLlve Lo Lhe
premlses
ca proposlLlon reached by a process of lnference

ass|m||at|on
%9booetlcs)
Lhe acL or process by whlch a sound becomesldenLlcal wlLh or slmllar Lo a nelghborln
g sound ln one or moredeflnlng characLerlsLlcs as place of arLlculaLlon volce orvolcel
essness or manner of arLlculaLlon

homonym
ln llngulsLlcs a homonym ls ln Lhe sLrlcL sense one of a group of words LhaL share
Lhe same spelllng ooJ Lhe same pronunclaLlon buL have dlfferenL meanlngs
1
@hus
homonyms are slmulLaneouslyhomographs %words LhaL share Lhe same spelllng
lrrespecLlve of Lhelr pronunclaLlon) ooJ homophones %words LhaL share Lhe same
pronunclaLlon lrrespecLlve of Lhelr spelllng) @he sLaLe of belng a homonym ls
called Lxamples of homonyms are Lhe palr stok %parL of a planL)
and stok %follow/harass a person) and Lhe palr eft %pasL Lense of leave)
and eft %opposlLe of rlghL) A dlsLlncLlon ls someLlmes made beLween Lrue
homonyms whlch are unrelaLed ln orlgln such as skote %gllde on lce) and skote %Lhe
flsh) and polysemous homonyms or polysemes whlch have a shared orlgln such
as mootb %of a rlver) and mootb %of an anlmal)
23

ln nonLechnlcal conLexLs Lhe Lerm homonym may be used %somewhaL confuslngly)
Lo refer Lo words LhaL are elLher homographs ot homophones
1
ln Lhls looser sense
Lhe words tow %propel wlLh oars) and tow %argumenL) are consldered homonyms as
are Lhe words teoJ %peruse) and teeJ %waLerslde planL)

9o|ysemy
@he coexlsLence of many posslble meanlngs for a word or phrase