4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
ABBREVIATION vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aim of the Study 1
3. Scope and method of the study 2
4. Organization of the study 2
Part B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Basic Concepts of English Ambiguity 4
1.1.1. Definition of Ambiguity 4
1.1.2. Differences between Ambiguity and Vagueness 5
1.2. Cases of Ambiguity 5
1.2.1. Lexical Ambiguity 6
1.2.1.1. Ambiguity caused by Homonymy and Polysemy 7
1.2.1.2. Ambiguity caused by Obscure References 10
1.2.1.3. Ambiguity caused by Intensions and Extensions 11
1.2.2. Structural Ambiguity 12
1.2.3. Semantic scope ambiguity 13
1.2.4. Phonological Ambiguity 14
1.3. Ambiguity and Literature 14
1.4. Summary 16
CHAPTER 2: LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY IN “TREASURE
ISLAND” 17


PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
Language can be considered as the most wonderful invention and greatest
achievement of human beings which distinguished man and animal. Language is not just
about word and means of communication, but deep inside is magnificence thanks to the
creation of mankind in the process of development and evolution. At the center of that
development, human being has turned the complicated things into an art, including the art
of using language. To be good at using language, people must have a good knowledge of
it. Knowing a language is not just knowing its single words, but knowing how to put words
together to form sentences and utterances that express ideas and thoughts meaningfully and
clearly. Language is created to help people communicate. However, people from different
countries that have different languages and even those from one country can have
difficulties in communicating because of misunderstanding in meanings of words and
structures. Sometimes, people are not sure about the message they receive or they are
concerned about getting their own messages across to others. Therefore, Semantics was
born as one of the tools to meet the demand of investigating and knowing more about
meaning. According to Kreidler, C.W. (1998), Saeed, J.I. (2003), Nguyễn, H. (2004), what
Semantics does is studying meaning systematically. One aspect semantics studies is
ambiguity which can arise from some sources. Reality has shown that ambiguity is one of
the reasons why people, especially foreigners, often misunderstand each other.
Misunderstanding in meaning can lead to the interruption of conversation or a work,
especially a literature one cannot be understood totally, hence, it may lost its value.
With the personal interest in linguistics, I myself want to find out more about
meaning of sentences and utterances. In the process of finding the problem, the attraction
of ambiguity caught my eyes and my mind. But in such limited time and capacity, I can
only devote to analyze ―Treasure Island‖ by Robert Louis Stevenson to address this
problem.
2. Aims of the study

Part B is the Development which includes two chapters. Chapter 1 deals with the
Literature review which is used as the theoretical background for the author‘s study view
on English ambiguity in general and English lexical and structural ambiguity in particular.
In this chapter, the concepts and cases of English ambiguity are taken into consideration.
Chapter 2 deals with the main purpose of the study. The author goes deeper into each
chapter of the story to find out and analyze the roles of the lexical and structural ambiguity.
9

Finally, Part C is the Conclusion of the study. This closes the study in reviewing the
content of the research and gives some suggestions for further study.
10

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. Basic Concepts of English Ambiguity
1.1.1. Definition of Ambiguity
The investigation into English ambiguity has shown that this issue receives much
attention from linguists in different times. It has been discussed in many linguistic books.
Cann, R. (1993) shares the same ideas as Hurford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983) about
ambiguity. Cann, R. (1993: 8) states: "A sentence is said to be ambiguous whenever it can
associated with two or more different meanings.‖ Hurford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983:121)
say: "A word or a sentence is AMBIGUOUS when it has more than one sense. A sentence
is ambiguous if it has two (or more) paraphrases which are not themselves paraphrased of
each other.‖. In other words, ambiguity is the property of being ambiguous, where a word,
term, notation, sign, symbol, phrase, sentence, or any other form used for communication
can be interpreted in more than one way. For example:
They found hospitals and charitable institutions.
(Lyons, J., 1995:56)
The word ―found‖ here is ambiguous because it can be the past simple tense of

Lobner, S. (2002:45), ―Vagueness can be observed with all concepts that depend on
properties varying on a continuous scale‖. A vague term is not ambiguous as far as it fails
to have two or more distinct meanings, however, many terms are both vague and
ambiguous. A term is vague just in case there are cases in which it is unclear whether or
not the term applies. In other case, some term is vague because there are borderline areas in
a continuum, where it is unclear whether or not the term applies. For example, ―red‖ has a
vague meaning because it is conceived as a continuum with fuzzy transitions. Another
example is ―mountain‖ and ―hill‖ (Hurford, J.R. & Heasley, B., 1983: 123). There is no
absolute distinction between ―mountain‖ and ―hill‖. What can be referred as ―mountain‖ in
one situation may be considered ―hill‖ in other situations.
Other term is vague because there are several criteria for application of the term with
no standard of how many of the criteria need be fulfilled and to what degree.
E.g. philosophy, religious (person), resident, adult and tree.
Hence, vagueness is not the same things as ambiguity.
1.2. Cases of Ambiguity
There are many ways to categorize ambiguity. Some linguists share the same ideas as
others about the causes of ambiguity and some have different ideas.
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Stageberg, N.C. (1964: 111) looks at ambiguity as an issue caused by obscure
references and sentence structures.
In the viewpoint of Palmer, F. R. (1981: 102, 192), English ambiguity may result
from polysemy and homonymy, from intension and extension.
According to Cann, R. (1993: 8), there are three reasons which cause ambiguity. It
can arise if a single word has multiple meanings, a sentence has different syntactic
structures or certain expressions have different semantic scope.
Roach, P. (1983:109) discusses ambiguity as the problem caused by sound links.
Hurford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983: 129) agree with Palmer, F. R. (1981) and Cann,
R. (1993) that ambiguity may arise from polysemy and homonymy and structures.
1.2.1. Lexical Ambiguity

cause lots of difficulties for readers, especially foreigners because if they lack background
knowledge, they cannot understand the hidden meaning.
There are some sources of lexical ambiguity. They will be discussed more below.
1.2.1.1. Ambiguity caused by Homonymy and Polysemy
a. Homonymy
Definition of Homonymy
Nguyễn, H. (2004: 68) says that if different words accidentally have the same forms,
they are homonymous. Take the following example of homonymy:
―Mine is a long and sad tale‖ said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and singing.
―It is a long tail, certainly,‖ said Alice looking down with wonder at the Mouse‘s tail,
―But why do you call it sad?‖
(Quoted from Nguyễn, H., 2004:69).
The ambiguity here is caused by ―tale‖ and ―tail‖. In the story, /teil- tale/ can be both
long and sad, but as /teil- tail/ it is hard to imagine it as ―sad‖. The ambiguity arises from
the homonymy of ―tale‖ and ―tail‖.
Kinds of Homonymy
Homonymy can be classified into absolute and partial homonym.
Absolute homonyms should satisfy three conditions:
i. They will be unrelated in meaning
ii. All their form will be identical
iii. The identical forms will be grammatically equivalent
(Nguyễn, H., 2004:70)
bank (n): a financial institution vs. bank (n): the bank of the river
(Nguyễn, H., 2004:70)
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According to Nguyễn, H. (2004: 70, 71), partial homonyms can be classified into
three smaller groups based on the sameness of forms which include pronunciation and
spelling:
a) Full homonyms are ones identical in pronunciation and spelling:

ii. Position: the tail of the procession, the foot of the mountain
iii. Movement: caterpillar of a tank, to worm
iv. Function: finger of instrument, the key to the mystery
v. Color: orange, rose
vi. Size: midget, elephantine
According to him, metaphor may be:
a. Living metaphor is a word used in unusual, novel meaning and metaphor is felt as such.
For example: Peace is our fortress
b. Faded metaphor is the one which has lost its freshness because of long use and became
habitual. For example: golden youth, to fall in love…
c. Dead metaphor is the word which has lost its metaphoric meaning and is used only
figuratively. For example: to ponder, capital…
(Nguyễn, H., 2004:109)
Metonymy
In the viewpoint of Nguyễn, H. (2004:110), metonymy occurs when one word can
substitute for another with which it is associated. In other words, instead of the name of
one object or notion, we use the name of another because these objects are associated and
closely related. For example:
The White House announced a press conference for four o‘clock today.
―The White House‖ here is used instead of the US government.
Nguyễn, H. (2004:111) states that the basis of the transference is Material, causal or
conceptual relation:
i. Place can be used for the institution:
E.g. The White House objected to the plan.
ii. Thing can be used for perception:
E.g. There goes my knees. (pain in the knee)
iii. Object can be used for possessor:
E.g. The Crown was angry with the PM‘s proposal.
iv. Part can be used for whole:
E.g. We don‘t hire long hairs.

or Anne. This sentence can be corrected as:
Mary said to Anne: ―I think you are in love‖.
The relative pronouns ―who, which‖ sometimes can cause ambiguity. For example:
―He held a flag over his head which he shook defiantly‖.
(Stageberg, N.C., 1964:111)
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This sentence can be clarified by placing the relative clause next to the noun it
modifies: ―Over his head he held a flag which he shook defiantly.‖ (Stageberg,N.C.,
1964:111)
It is clear that pronouns can be used to avoid repetition. However, in some situation
like the examples mentioned above, they can cause ambiguity; thus, users should know
when and where it is appropriate to use pronouns as obscure references to avoid ambiguity.
1.2.1.3. Ambiguity caused by Intensions and Extensions
Other sources of lexical ambiguity are extension and intension. The extension of an
expression is the set of entities that expression denotes while the intension is the set of
properties shared by all members of the extension. An example to illustrate is that the
extension of ―cow‖ is the set of all the cows in the world, but its intension is the property
that is described as ―bovine‖ (Palmer, F. R., 1981: 190).
Knowing the meaning of an expression, however, cannot be equivalent to knowing
its extension. For example, two expressions ―the morning star‖ and ―the evening star‖ have
the same extension but different intensions. Lacking of knowing the correct extension,
people may not know that the two expressions are the same which is ―Venus‖.
In other cases, the extension can change while the intension remains the same
(Kreidler, C.W., 1998: 133). The extension of the referring expression ―the Prime Minister
of Great Britain‖ is a single person. The intension of the same expression is ―is the Head of
Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom ‖. If the present Prime Minister will be
another person in the future, the extension changes but the intension remains the same.
With different readings, it is the extension and intension of an expression that cause
the ambiguity. For example, in the sentence:

interpretations of a sentence in syntax lead to structural ambiguity. In the viewpoint of
Cann, R. (1993:9), if a single grammatical string of words can be interpreted into at least
two syntactic structures, structural ambiguity will occur. In other words, if listeners or
readers can interpret and understand one sentence into at least two different ways because
its structure is not clear, this sentence is ambiguous. For example:
The strike was called by radical lecturers and students.
(Cann, R., 1993:8)
 (a) The strike was called by lecturers who are radical and by students.
vs. (b) The strike was called by lecturers who are radical and by students who are radical.
In the above example, what is at issue is the scope of the adjective ―radical‖. In the
first interpretation, ―radical‖ modifies and has scope over the noun ―lecturers‖ while in the
second interpretation, its scope is the nominal phrase ―lecturers and students‖.
19

I read the book on the floor
(Matthews, P., 2000:165)
 A book was on the floor and that was the one I read
vs. I was on the floor while reading the book
Hughes, W. & Lavery, J. (2004:126) use a sentence from news report in England to
illustrate:
Lord Denning spoke against the artificial insemination of women in the House of
Lord.
 In the speech presented in the House of Lord, Lord Denning spoke against the
artificial insemination of women.
vs. Lord Denning spoke against the artificial insemination of women occurring in the
House of Lord.
More specifically, Hurford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983:128) mentions about individual
words, not just about structures: ―A sentence which is ambiguous because its words relate
to each other in different ways, even though none of the individual words are ambiguous,
is STRUCTURALLY (or GRAMMATICALLY) AMBIGUOUS.‖. For example:

He lies /hi : laiz/ and heal eyes /hi : laiz/
Keep sticking /ki : p stiking/ and keeps ticking /ki : ps tiking/
(Roach, P., 1983:111)
Of course, ambiguity in such situations can be addressed by its context. However,
there is a number of difficulties in understanding connected speech or sound link of speech
because the way words are pronounced in isolation is different from that in the context of
connected speech. Therefore, to overcome this problem, English learners should bear in
mind the problem and practice phonetics including rhythm and sound links.
1.3. Ambiguity and Literature
People often think of language as a clear and literal vehicle for accurately
communicating ideas. However, sometimes, even when language is used literally,
misunderstanding can arise and meanings can shift and thus, have bad effects on
communication. People can be intentionally or unintentionally ambiguous when using
language. Some authors share the same idea that ambiguity is very curial in language,
especially in academic language.
When analyzing the roles of grammatical structures which include those causing
ambiguity through some literature works, Eagleson, R.D. & Kramer, L. (1977:52) asserts
that this language device can enable authors ―to pack a vivid image into a small space‖.
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Genette‘s (1988) sense of the ambiguity of literature is similar to Jakobson‘s (1960),
in which essay he writes "Ambiguity is an intrinsic, inalienable character of any self-
focused message, briefly a corollary feature of poetry‖ (cited in Lodge, D., 1988: 49-50).
Therefore, Jakobson (1960) certifies that at the heart of the poetic function is ambiguity.
Quiroga-Clare, C. (2010) states ―ambiguity in language is an essential part of
language‖, hence ―Ambiguity is a poetic vehicle‖.
According to Bartoloni, P. & Stephens, A. (2010), ambiguity in literature has been
positively marked and striven for periods. It is worth to note that ambiguity is still expected
and esteemed until now because the legacy of European Symbolism, originated in late
nineteenth- century in France, ―is still the dominant influence of Western literary values‖.

There is an agreement that ambiguity plays important roles in literature. The following
chapter will analyze lexical and structural ambiguity to illustrate this point of view.
23

CHAPTER 2: LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL
AMBIGUITY IN “TREASURE ISLAND”

2.1. Lexical ambiguity
2.1.1. Metaphor
In chapter 1 ―The old sea- dog at the Admiral Benbow‖, there is lexical ambiguity
which can cause readers difficult in understanding.
―True sea- dog‖ and ―real old salt‖ can be interpreted in two ways. Because the local
people are afraid of the captain and his terrified stories, they may call him these names to
show that they consider him as little things of the sea such as an animal or salt. Other
meaning is that he is a veteran of many years sailing on ships or boats and he knows many
things.
In chapter 2 ―Black Dog appears and disappears‖, some lexical ambiguity has
appeared.
The first attention is paid to ―brown‖ in ―all the brown had gone out of his face‖.
―Brown‖ here is not about the color, but it is the scare. So is ―blue‖ in ―his nose was blue‖.
All the colors in these two sentences were used to show the captain‘s scare.
Another ambiguity is ―keyholes‖ in ―none of your keyholes for me‖. Here,
―keyholes‖ is not the plural form of ―keyhole‖ which means ―the hole in a lock into which
a key fits‖ but the speaker does not need the hearer to do anything else.
In chapter 4 ―The sea- chest‖, as the story goes on, ―The more we told of our
troubles, the more- man, woman and child- they clung to the shelter of their house‖ also
has its hidden meaning. ―Clung to the shelter of their house‖ implies that everyone was
very scared when they heard about the story.
In chapter 6 ―The captain‘s papers‖, lexical ambiguity can be found in the sentence
―This lad Hawkins is a trump‖. Here, Stevenson uses metaphor to express that Hawkins is

The phrase ―lent me wings‖ in ―…this sound of danger lent me wings‖ is a living
metaphor. It shows that seeing the danger, the speaker runs fast as if he had wings.
One of the basic transference of metaphor is position and it appears in ―I had drawn
near to the foot of the little hill…‖.
In chapter 15 ―The man of the island‖, the sentence ―I was within an ace of calling
for help‖ is difficult to understand. ―An ace‖ here does not have the meaning of a playing
card. In this sentence, it means the speaker is in a very dangerous situation and needs help.
25

Chapter 19 ―Narrative resumed by Jim Hawkins: The garrison in the stockade‖
contains some ambiguity. R. L. Stevenson uses metaphor in the sentence ―Wild horses
wouldn‘t draw it from you?‖. ―Wild horses‖ is employed to refer to Silver and his fellows.
Another sentence may receive readers‘ notice too: ―A man who has been three years
biting his nails on a desert island, Jim, can‘t expect to appear as sane as you or me.‖. The
action ―biting his nails on a desert island‖ does not mean that the man here does something
with his nails on the island, but that he was left there alone for three years.
Chapter 24 ―The cruise of the coracle‖ embraces some word phrases which can cause
ambiguity. The author uses metaphor in the sentence ―And I had hardly moved before the
boat, giving up at once her gentle dancing movement, ran straight down a slope of water so
steep that it made me giddy, and struck her nose, with a spout of spray, deep into the side
of the next wave‖. ―Her nose‖ is the symbol of the foremost part of the coracle.
In this chapter, the author also uses metaphor in ―I was on the summit of swell…‖.
This sentence means that the speaker of Jim Hawkins is risking his life and he is in a very
dangerous and urgent situation.
Chapter 26 ―Israel Hands‖ has seen lexical ambiguity. The first one can be found in
―…there‘s a pet bit for to beach the ship in‖. The noun phrase ―pet bit‖ implies a nice, safe
and quiet place to beach the ship in.
Other ambiguity is in ―Fine flat sand, never a cat‘s paw…‖. The phrase ―never a cat‘s
paw‖ means this is a safe and quiet place.
The next one lies in ―My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to

life and Jim‘s.
One more time, metaphor is used in ―Now, right before us the anchorage was
bounded by a plateau from two or three hundred feet high, adjoining on the north the
sloping southern shoulder of the Spy- glass and rising again towards the south into the
rough, cliffy eminence called the Mizzen- mast Hill‖ through the phrase ―shoulder of the
Spy- glass‖. The basic transference of metaphor in this case is shape.
Chapter 32 ―The treasure hunt- the voice among the trees‖ embraces lexical
ambiguity. To describe the fear of the pirates when they hear the voice which they think it
is Flint‘s, the author writes: ―The buccaneers remained rooted to the ground, their eyes
starting from their heads‖. The word ―rooted‖ implies that these pirates are very afraid of
the sound and they cannot move to other places.
In the last chapter- chapter 34 ―And last‖, shape which is one of the basis of
transference of metaphor is used in ―At last- I think it was on the third night- the doctor
and I were strolling on the shoulder of the hill where it overlooks the lowlands of the isle,
27

when, from out the thick darkness below, the wind brought us a noise between shrieking
and singing‖. The shape in this sentence is ―the shoulder of the hill‖.
The author of ―Treasure Island‖ uses metaphor to serves some purposes. Firstly,
metaphor is employed to map visual images rather than concept. For example, the images
of ―True sea- dog‖ and ―real old salt‖ in chapter one are replaced for an experienced sailor.
Other examples can be found in chapter six or seven. Thanks to a number of metaphors
used in the story, the author is successful in creating a strong impression on the readers.
Secondly, metaphors used in the story can reflect the author‘s individual styles and
worldview. It is interesting to see that the author employs the first- person narration for his
story. He plays the character of Jim Hawkins who mainly narrates the whole story. This
character takes actions, makes judgments and has opinions. Therefore, what the author
thinks and perceives are presented in the eyes of Jim Hawkins. This role of metaphor leads
to the close relationship between the author and readers. By using figurative meaning, the
author makes readers to make their minds up as to the meaning conveyed to them. In doing

―dragged your headforemost out of the grave‖. ―Headforemost‖ is used instead of life and
―the grave‖ is employed for ―the death‖. The whole sentence is to save someone‘s life from
the death.
The word ―wig‖ in ―I stake my wig‖ also has its hidden meaning. ―Wig‖ does not
simply mean an artificial covering of human or synthetic hair worn on the head for
personal adornment, as part of a costume, or to conceal baldness. It is the position of a
magistrate.
In chapter 3 ―The black spot‖, ―The lubbers is going about to get the wind of me‖
means the captain is threatened and can be killed by cruel people. ―Wind‖ here does not
mean the direction from which a movement of air comes but it implies the captain‘s life.
Chapter 4 ―The sea- chest‖ also has something interesting when looking at its lexical
ambiguity.
―Soul‖ in ―No soul would consent to return with us to the Admiral Benbow‖ is used
as a replacement for person. Therefore, this sentence means no one would consent to return
with Jim and his mother to the Admiral Benbow.
It is also necessary to pay attention to chapter 5 ―The last of the Blind man‖ when
analyzing lexical ambiguity. In ―sheltering my head behind a bush of broom‖, ―my head‖
is the metaphor of the speaker himself. Other examples are ―you have your hands on it‖,
―you have your hands on thousands‖ or ―you hang your leg‖. In these sentences, ―hands‖
and ―leg‖ are used to imply that the hearers themselves have participated in this business
and similar things.