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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

831.0. "Ambiguation Contest" by FASDER::MTURNER (Mark Turner * DTN 425-3730 * MEL4) Wed Sep 26 1990 00:17

    A problem from my first linguistics class:
    
    	Find as many possible distinct meanings as you can
    	for the sentence:
    
    	"The houses are crowded on the east side of town."
    
    For ease of reading your responses, please use paraphrasis.
    Really, it's ok.  This is the nineties.
    
    Seriously, let's use the conventions:
    
    	{A | B | null}	means: A or B or nothing in this position
    	(A)		means: A is optional in this position
    
    to organize your paraphrased interpretations.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
831.1Only four that I can seeMINAR::BISHOPWed Sep 26 1990 04:0917
    I only get:
    
    1.	There are houses all over town.  On the east side, the
    	houses are more closely spaced than on other sides, but
    	there are houses everywhere.
    
    2.	The town's legal boundary includes a lot of land with
    	no houses.  The fraction on which the houses are built
    	is the eastern part.
    
    3.	Houses are evenly distributed over the town, but on the
    	east side more people live in each house.
    
    4.	There is a cliff or other natural feature on the east side
    	of town, and some houses are right up against that feature.
    
    			-John Bishop
831.2causing a lean like in Pisa?AUSSIE::WHORLOWD R A B C = action planWed Sep 26 1990 05:2310
    G'day,
    and ....
    
    
    There are houses of unknown distribution around town, but all have most
    of their occupants to the side of the house towards the east side of
    town. (presumably they like to see the sun come up? )
    
    derek
    
831.3Parenthesis schmarenthesisMARVIN::KNOWLESIntentionally Rive GaucheWed Sep 26 1990 15:152
    Several houses that don't fall within the legal boundary of the town
    are built close to the houses near the eastern edge that do.
831.4crowded houseTLE::RANDALLliving on another planetWed Sep 26 1990 18:274
    The houses on the east side of town have lots of people living in
    them -- probably more people than they were built to hold. 
    
    --bonnie
831.5GoodFASDER::MTURNERMark Turner * DTN 425-3730 * MEL4Wed Sep 26 1990 18:446
    You're all on the right track; now how many *combinations* of these
    (and other) meanings can you get altogether?
    
    
    
    						Mark
831.6strangerESCROW::MUNZERWed Sep 26 1990 21:563
    ...but cafe shops are nearly empty.
    
    John
831.7Like I mean yer well how manydid you get?AUSSIE::WHORLOWD R A B C = action planThu Sep 27 1990 10:0932
    G'day,
    
    
    Now let's see...
    
              A               B             C
     "(The houses)[as individuals] are (crowded)[together] (on the east side 
                                                                     of town)."
    

              A               B             C
    	"(The houses)[as a set] are (crowded on the east side of
    town)[ by each other]
              A               B             C
    	"(The houses)[as a set] are (crowded on the east side of
    town)[ by those out-of-town ]
    
              A               B             C
    	"(The houses) are (crowded on the east side)[geographically
    internally] (of town)."
    
    
              A               B             C
    	"(The houses) are (crowded)[internally] (on the east side of town)."
    
    
      That looks like 5.
    
    derek