Syntactic Ambiguity in English: Cognitive Processing and Interpretation

Abstract

Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can be parsed in more than one way due to its grammatical structure, leading to multiple possible interpretations. This phenomenon is a critical area of investigation within both theoretical linguistics and cognitive psychology, as it offers insight into how humans process language in real time. The present study explores the nature of syntactic ambiguity in English, focusing on how listeners and readers mentally represent and resolve structural ambiguities during language comprehension. Drawing on psycholinguistic research, including eye-tracking and reaction time studies, this paper examines the cognitive mechanisms employed to disambiguate syntactic structures, such as garden-path sentences and attachment ambiguities. The role of context, lexical cues, and working memory capacity in guiding syntactic parsing decisions is analyzed in depth. Furthermore, the study reviews competing models of sentence processing, such as the Garden Path Model and the Constraint-Based Lexicalist Model, evaluating their effectiveness in accounting for empirical findings. The paper also considers the implications of syntactic ambiguity for natural language processing (NLP) systems, highlighting challenges in machine parsing compared to human interpretation. Overall, the research underscores the complexity of syntactic processing and emphasizes the interplay between syntactic rules, cognitive strategies, and contextual influences. By advancing our understanding of how syntactic ambiguity is navigated, this work contributes to broader discussions in language acquisition, computational linguistics, and cognitive science.

Keywords: Syntactic Ambiguity, Sentence Processing, Garden-Path Sentences, Cognitive Linguistics, Parsing Strategies, Psycholinguistics, Ambiguity Resolution, Natural Language Processing, Attachment Ambiguity, Sentence Interpretation