Cover not available
Part of
Vagueness, Ambiguity, and All the Rest: Linguistic and pragmatic approaches
Edited by Ilaria Fiorentini and Chiara Zanchi
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 347] 2024
► pp. 10–28

Chapter 2
The role of ambiguity and vagueness in language change

| University of Bologna
In linguistic research, the concepts of ambiguity and vagueness are often confused and frequently invoked to describe synchronic facts and explain diachronic processes. This article illustrates the differences and similarities between the two phenomena, defines their position within the domain of semantic indeterminacy, and discusses their role in linguistic change. The examples show that while ambiguity is intertwined with various mechanisms of change, acting as both a source and a product of innovation, vagueness plays a marginal role, being mainly a side effect of ongoing change or a tool of communicative strategies of vague language. Moreover, intentional vagueness usually promotes speaker-driven innovations, whereas ambiguity can trigger hearer-driven changes that unfold broader diachronic scenarios.
Keywords: ambiguity, vagueness, generality, semantics, pragmatics, language change
Article outline
  • 1.Ambiguity and vagueness in language use
    • 1.1Ambiguity vs. vagueness
    • 1.2Three forms of semantic indeterminacy
    • 1.3The role of context and uncertainty
  • 2.Ambiguity and vagueness in language change
    • 2.1The role of knowledge and choices
    • 2.2Polysemy and ambiguity
    • 2.3Ambiguity as a source and a product of innovation
    • 2.4Metaphors and vagueness
    • 2.5Generality, ambiguity, and vagueness
  • 3.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (51)
References
Bazzanella, Carla. 2011. “Indeterminacy in Dialogue.” Language and Dialogue 1 (1): 21–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bergs, Alexander. 2017. “Under Pressure: Norms, Rules, and Coercion in Linguistic Analyses and Literary Readings.” In Cognitive Literary Science: Dialogues between Literature and Cognition, ed. by Michael Burke, and Emily T. Troscianko, 279–302. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bolinger, Dwight. 1961. Generality, Gradience, and the All-or-none. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Bromberger, Sylvain. 2012. “Vagueness, Ambiguity, and the ‘Sound’ of Meaning.” In Analysis and Interpretation in the Exact Sciences, ed. by Mélanie Frappier, Derek H. Brown, and Robert DiSalle, 75–93. Berlin: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brunner, Pascale. 2014. Le vague, die Vagheit. Du mot au concept, pragmatique et folk linguistique. Limoges: Éditions Lambert-Lucas.Google Scholar
Channell, Joanna. 1994. Vague Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cutting, Joan. 2007. Vague Language Explored. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Mauro, Tullio. 1982. Minisemantica dei linguaggi non verbali e delle lingue. Roma-Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Denison, David. 2017. “Ambiguity and Vagueness in Historical Change.” In The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, ed. by Marianne Hundt, Sandra Mollin, and Simone E. Pfenninger, 292–318. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fiorentini, Ilaria, and Elisabetta Magni. 2021. “Et cetera, eccetera, etc.: The Development of a General Extender from Latin to Italian.” In Building Categories in Interaction: Linguistic Resources at Work, ed. by Caterina Mauri, Eugenio Goria, and Ilaria Fiorentini. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fischer, Olga. 2007. Morphosyntactic Change. Functional and Formal Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fuchs, Cathèrine. 2009. “L’ambiguïté. Du fait de langue aux stratégies interlocutives.” Travaux Neuchâtelois de Linguistique 50: 3–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ghezzi, Chiara. 2022. Vagueness Markers. Age variation and pragmatic change. Milano: Franco Angeli.Google Scholar
Gillon, Brendan S. 1990. “Ambiguity, Generality, and Indeterminacy: Tests and definitions.” Synthese 85: 391–416. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Maj-Britt. 1998. The Function of Discourse Particles: A Study with Special Reference to Spoken Standard French. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, John A. 2004. Efficiency and Complexity in Grammars. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopper, Paul J., and Elizabeth C. Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyde, Dominic, and Diana Raffman. 2018. “Sorites Paradox.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. by Edward N. Zalta [URL] (accessed January 9, 2024).Google Scholar
Kaltenböck, Gunther, Wiltrud Mihatsch, and Stefan Schneider. (2010). New Approaches to Hedging. Bingley: Emerald. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, Christopher. 2007. “Vagueness and Grammar: The Semantics of Relative and Absolute Gradable Adjectives.” Linguistics & Philosophy 30: 1–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011. “Ambiguity and Vagueness: An Overview.” In Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning, vol. 1, ed. by Claudia Maienborn, Klaus von Heusinger, and Paul Portner, 507–535. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, George. 1970. “A Note on Vagueness and Ambiguity.” Linguistic Inquiry 1 (3): 357–359.Google Scholar
Lasersohn, Peter. 1999. “Pragmatic Halos.” Language 75: 522–551. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lauwers, Peter, and Dominique Willems. 2011. “Coercion: Definition and Challenges, Current Approaches, and New Trends.” Linguistics, 49 (6): 1219–1235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lenneberg, Eric H. 1971. “Of Language Knowledge, Apes, and Brains.” Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 1 (1): 1–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lindström, Jan, Yael Maschler, and Simona Pekarek Doehler. (eds) 2016. Grammar and Negative Epistemics in Talk-in-Interaction: Cross-Linguistic Studies. Journal of Pragmatics 106, special issue.Google Scholar
McArthur, Tom. 2005. Concise Oxford Companion to The English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Magni, Elisabetta. 2016. “Sette tipi di ambiguità nel mutamento linguistico.” In Problemi e prospettive della linguistica storica, ed. by Patrizia Cordin, and Alessandro Parenti, 13–34. Roma: il Calamo.Google Scholar
. 2020a. L’ambiguità delle lingue. Roma: Carocci.Google Scholar
. 2020b. “Ambiguity and Uncertainty in the Synchrony and Diachrony of Language.” In L’ambiguità nelle e tra le lingue, ed. by Elisabetta Magni, and Yahis Martari. Quaderni di Semantica, special issue: 13–46.Google Scholar
Elisabetta Magni. (forthcoming). “At the Interface between Modality and Discourse Marking: The History of Italian chessò.”
Michaelis, Laura A. 2003. “Word Meaning, Sentence Meaning, and Syntactic Meaning.” In Cognitive Approaches to Lexical Semantics, ed. by Hubert Cuyckens, René Dirven, and John R. Taylor, 93–122. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Migliorini, Bruno. 1983. Storia della lingua italiana. Firenze: Sansoni.Google Scholar
OED = Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online June 2022). Oxford University Press. [URL] (accessed January 9, 2024).
Overstreet, Maryann. 1999. Whales, Candlelight and Stuff Like That: General Extenders in English Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. 2011. “Vagueness and Hedging.” In Handbooks of Pragmatics: Pragmatics of Society, ed. by Gisle Andersen, and Karin Aijmer, 293–318. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. 1901. “Vague.” In Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, vol. 2, ed. by James M. Baldwin, 748. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Persson, Gunnar. 1988. “Homonymy, Polysemy and Heterosemy. The Types of Lexical Ambiguity in English.” In Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Lexicography, ed. by Karl Hyldgaard-Jensen, 269–280. Berlin/Boston: Max Niemeyer Verlag. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Piantadosi, Steven T., Harry Tily, and Edward Gibson. 2012. “The Communicative Function of Ambiguity in Language.” Cognition 122 (3): 280–291. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scheffler, Israel. 1989. “Pictorial Ambiguity.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 47 (2): 109–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sorensen, Roy. 2023. “Vagueness.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. by Edward N. Zalta. [URL] (accessed January 9, 2024).Google Scholar
Sperber, Dan, and Deirdre Wilson. 2012. Meaning and Relevance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Timberlake, Alan. 1977. “Reanalysis and Actualization in Syntactic Change.” In Mechanisms of Syntactic Change, ed. by Charles N. Li, 141–177. Austin/London: University of Texas Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth C., and Graeme Trousdale. 2013. Constructionalization and Constructional Changes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tuggy, David. 1993. “Ambiguity, Polysemy and Vagueness.” Cognitive Linguistics 4: 273–290. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Voghera, Miriam, and Laura Collu. 2017. “Intentional Vagueness: a Corpus-based Analysis of Italian and German.” In Exploring Intensification: Synchronic, Diachronic and Cross-Linguistic Perspectives, ed. by Maria Napoli, and Miriam Ravetto, 371–390. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wasow, Thomas. 2015. “Ambiguity Avoidance is Overrated.” In Ambiguity: Language and Communication, ed. by Susanne Winkler, 29–47. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williamson, Timothy. 1994. Vagueness. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Winter-Froemel, Esme, and Angelika Zirker. 2015. “Ambiguity in Speaker-Hearer Interaction: A Parameter-Based Model of Analysis.” In Ambiguity: Language and Communication, ed. by Susanne Winkler, 283–340. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Qiao. 1998. “Fuzziness-Vagueness-Generality-Ambiguity.” Journal of Pragmatics 29 (1): 13–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zwicky, Arnold M., and Jerrold M. Sadock. 1975. “Ambiguity Tests and How to Fail Them.” In Syntax and Semantics, ed by John P. Kimball, 1–36. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar