Ambiguity : language and communication / edited by Susanne Winkler.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Winkler, Susanne, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ambiguity.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (378 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

[Hawthorne, New York] : De Gruyter, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This edited volume investigates the concept of ambiguity and how it manifests itself in language and communication from a new perspective. The main goal is to uncover a great mystery: why can we communicate effectively despite the fact that ambiguity is pervasive in the language that we use? And conversely, how do speakers and hearers use ambiguity and vagueness to achieve a specific goal? Comprehensive answers to these questions are provided from different fields which focus on the study of language, in particular, linguistics, literary criticism, rhetoric, psycholinguistics, theology, media studies and law. By bringing together these different disciplines, the book documents a radical change in the research on ambiguity. The innovation is brought about by the transdisciplinary perspective of the individual and co-authored papers that bridge the gaps between disciplines. The research program that underlies this volume establishes theoretical connections between the areas of (psycho)linguistics that concentrate on the question of how the system of language works with the areas of rhetoric, literary studies, theology and law that focus on the question of how communication works in discourse and text from the perspective of both production and perception. A three-dimensional Ambiguity Model is presented that serves as a theoretical anchor point for the analyses of the different types of ambiguities by the contributors of this volume. The Ambiguity Model is a hybrid model which brings together the different perspectives on how language and the language system work with respect to ambiguity as well as the question of how ambiguity is employed in communication and in different communicational settings. A set of specific features that are relevant for the description of ambiguity, such as whether the ambiguity arises in the production or perception process, and whether it occurs in strategic or nonstrategic communication, are defined. The research program rests on the assumption that both the production and the perception of ambiguity, as well as its strategic and nonstrategic occurrence, can only be understood by exploring how these factors interact with each other and a reference system when ambiguity is generated and resolved. The collection Ambiguity: Language and Communication constitutes a superb introduction to the workings of ambiguity in language and communication along with extensive analyses of many different examples from different fields. As such it is relevant for students of linguistics, literary studies, rhetoric, law and theology and at the same time there is sufficient quality analysis and new research questions to benefit advanced readers who are interested in ambiguity.

Contents:

Front matter

Vorwort

Table of Contents

Exploring Ambiguity and the Ambiguity Model from a Transdisciplinary Perspective

Ambiguity Avoidance is Overrated

Strategisches Ambiguieren, Verstehenswechsel und rhetorische Textleistung . Am Beispiel von Shakespeares Antony-Rede

Ambiguity in Shakespeare ’s Sonnet 138

Von der intendierten Ambiguität in die Aporie . Monologische und dialogische Erkenntniswege am Beispiel von Platons Hippias Minor

Unbestimmtheit im Recht

Ambiguity and Sentence Position: An Experimental Case Study on Manner Adverbs

The Influence of Prosody on Children’s Processing of Ambiguous Sentences

Discourse Function Ambiguity of Fragments: A Linguistic Puzzle

Ambiguität und Schriftauslegung: Beobachtungen zu Augustins Schrift De utilitate credendi

Dimensions of Constitutive Ambiguity

Ambiguity in Speaker-Hearer-Interaction: A Parameter-Based Model of Analysis

Die Schuhe von van Gogh: Ambiguität vs. Unspezifität im Bild

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed May 4, 2015).

ISBN:

9783110403589

3110403587

9783110403633

3110403633

OCLC:

908079972