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    If the ambiguity were due to 'and' sometimes acting as a ... — Carmelics
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    Supports→The collective-distributive ambiguity in sentences like 'John and Jane moved a piano' is not due to an ambiguity in the conjunction 'and'

    If the ambiguity were due to 'and' sometimes acting as a sentential operator and sometimes as a term-forming operator, conjunction reduction of sentences with different readings would be infelicitous

    Philosophy of Language
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    Philosophy of Language

    Key Terms

    Ambiguity(as used in linguistics and philosophy of language)
    When something can be understood or interpreted in more than one way.
    conjunction reduction(Canonical ambiguity detection test from Zwicky and Sadock (1975))
    A test for ambiguity in which two sentences containing a purportedly ambiguous term are conjoined using the term only once, to determine whether zeugma or loss of interpretations results
    infelicitous(in linguistics)
    Awkward, clumsy, or inappropriate in a way that makes something sound wrong or uncomfortable, even if it's technically possible to say.

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    Browse more in Philosophy of Language
    Related propositions within the same area of thought.
    sentential operator(in logic and linguistics)
    A word or symbol that connects complete sentences together, like 'and' or 'or' do when you say 'It's raining AND the game is canceled.'
    term-forming operator(in logic and linguistics)
    A word that combines with other words to create a single noun or label, like 'and' in 'bacon and eggs' where it helps form one dish name rather than connecting two separate ideas.

    Related

    Felicity of the conjunction-reduced form indicates the ambiguity does not reside...The collective-distributive ambiguity in sentences like 'John and Jane moved a p...The conjunction-reduced sentence 'John and Jane moved a piano and met for lunch'...

    Similar

    Alternatively, 'and' may signal multiple possible discourse relations,...81%The collective-distributive ambiguity in sentences like 'John and Jane...77%Zeugma in conjunction-reduced sentences is evidence of ambiguity or po...76%Absence of zeugmatic effects in conjunction-reduced sentences is evide...74%

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    SEP: ambiguity
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    Clearly, the ‘him’ in (43) can be interpreted as Phil or Stanley. But, crucially, how you interpret ‘him’ will depend on how you connect the two sentences. On the one hand, the interpretation of ‘him’ as referring to Phil goes hand in hand with a causal relation – its was the tickling that caused the poking (known as a result relation. Interpreting ‘him’ as referring to Stanley suggests goes hand in hand with a parallel relation. Of course the inference is defeasible – one can always break the c

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