Re: OT: Two language change questions

--- On Thu, 10/30/08, ROGER MILLS <rfmilly@...> wrote:


> > >
> Both examples are two-ways ambiguous:
>
> The clown hit the man [who had a/the cream pie/baseball
> bat]
> The clown hit [with a/the c.p./b.b.] the man
>
> > > The clown hit the man with THE red hat.
> More clearly here, it's the man who has the red hat,
> though the other
> reading is still possible though less likely.
>
> One of my prof's classic examples of a multiply
> ambiguous statement:
>
> "The police were ordered to stop drinking on campus
> after midnight"
Often we do not notice the ambiguity of such sentences because there is often a
"common sense" interpretation which pops to mind before the alternate
interpretation is even noticed.

As I think about it, I'm sure that the definite/indefinite article doesn't really
enforce one interpretation over the other. Rather, it just seems to "nudge" the
mind in the general direction of the intended interpretation, making it seem
the more probably intention.

--gary