Ambiguities (was Re: Vocab 2.4)

All due respect to Aidan-- here are some sentences that are considerably
more ambiguous; all, of course, depend on context--

1.  She gave him her picture =
a. Mary gave John a picture of herself.
b. Mary gave John a picture of Sonia
c. Mary gave John a picture that Mary owned. (implies she only owns one!)
d, Mary gave John a picture that Sonia owned  (ditto)
e.. Mary gave John a picture that Mary had drawn
f.. Mary gave John a picture that Sonia had drawn.
(Also depends on the polysemy of "picture")

And I think the all-time winner, so n-ambiguous that I lose count:
"The police were ordered to stop drinking on campus after midnight."

Kash at least can disambiguate this a  little (litterally, without bothering
to translate):
1. (We/You/They) ordered that [ police stop drink]. (the police are drinking
and must stop)
2. (We/You/They) ordered that  [[police stop that [they/people drink]].
(the police stop others from drinking).
The disadvantages of lacking a passive, and the two adverbial clauses create
a raft of other problems.........

Reply