A syntactically ambiguous headline:
Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years
syntax: the way words are put together in a language to form phrases, clauses, or sentences. “Syntactically” is the adverb form of syntax.
Source:
SIL International
ambiguous: open to or having several possible interpretations
Source:
Dictionary.com
The phrase “syntactically ambiguous” means that a sentence or expression is ambiguous because of its syntax. Change the order of the words, and the ambiguity is resolved.
e.g.:
“Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe” could mean one of two things:
- An enraged cow used an axe to attack a farmer.
- An enraged cow attacked a farmer who was holding an axe.
Unless the axe is critical to the story, I would fix this headline by striking the last two words:
Enraged Cow Injures Farmer
EXERCISE: Syntactically ambiguous headlines
Created by Bucknell University’s Department of Linguistics, Culture, and Languages.
English 109 