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5 - Translation Ambiguity

from Part II - Bilingual Lexical Processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2019

By
John W. Schwieter  and
Anat Prior
Edited by
Roberto R. Heredia  and
Anna B. Cieślicka
Roberto R. Heredia
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Anna B. Cieślicka
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
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Summary

This chapter provides a critical overview of translation ambiguity, which arises when bilinguals are confronted with a situation in which more than one translation is possible for a given word. We first discuss the sources of translation ambiguity, its prevalence, and the methods for measuring it. We then describe the consequences of translation ambiguity for lexical processing and learning. Finally, we explore how translation ambiguity can be modeled in the bilingual mental lexicon and discuss the possibility that bilingualism is another expression of ambiguity in which the bilingual mind is constantly activating multiple meanings in translation.

Keywords

ambiguity resolutionbilingual lexiconhomographmeaning ambiguitytranslation ambiguitytranslation semantic variability
Type
Chapter
Information
Bilingual Lexical Ambiguity Resolution , pp. 96 - 125
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

Further Reading

Schwieter, J. W., & Ferreira, A. (Eds.). (2017). The handbook of translation and cognition. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tokowicz, N. (2015). Lexical processing and second language acquisition. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Tokowicz, N., & Degani, T. (2010). Translation ambiguity: Consequences for learning and processing. In VanPatten, B. & Jegerski, J. (Eds.), Research on second language processing and parsing (pp.281–293). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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