27 · Phrases

Attachment changes meaning

One string of words can allow more than one ordinary tree, and the trees can make different claims. In I saw the man with the telescope, the final PP can describe the seeing or help identify the man. Word order and the preposition do not choose between those attachments.

Pronoun · headNoun phrase · subjectVerb · transitive verb · headDeterminer · determinerNoun · headNoun phrase · direct objectPreposition · headDeterminer · determinerNoun · headNoun phrase · complementPrepositional phrase · adverbialVerb phrase · predicateSentenceIsawthemanwiththetelescope
This figure shows the event reading: with the telescope is an adverbial in the verb phrase with saw.
Two possible groupings and what each one means
GroupingWhat it means
I [saw the man] [with the telescope].I used the telescope to see the man.
I saw [the man with the telescope].I saw the man who had the telescope.

In the first reading, the PP is an adverbial beside the direct object. In the second, it is a postmodifier inside the object noun phrase, under the head man. The words are identical; the parent of the PP changes, and so does the meaning.

another attachment question

A modifier can have different scope in a coordination

Whom does old describe?
Pronoun · headNoun phrase · subjectVerb · transitive verb · headDeterminer · determinerAdjective · premodifierNoun · headNominal · coordinateConjunction · coordinatorNoun · headNominal · coordinateNominal · headNoun phrase · direct objectVerb phrase · predicateSentenceTheymettheoldmenandwomen.

Old sits inside the first coordinate, so only the men are old.

Pronoun · headNoun phrase · subjectVerb · transitive verb · headDeterminer · determinerAdjective · premodifierNoun · headNominal · coordinateConjunction · coordinatorNoun · headNominal · coordinateNominal · headNominal · headNoun phrase · direct objectVerb phrase · predicateSentenceTheymettheoldmenandwomen.

Old sits above the coordination, so the men and the women are old.

Here the adjective’s parent changes. It can premodify the first coordinate, or it can premodify the nominal that contains the full coordination. Attachment ambiguity is therefore broader than a final PP after an object.

State each available reading before choosing

  1. Bracket the phrase under each plausible parent.
  2. Use substitution or a paraphrase to say what that proposed tree means.
  3. Use context, punctuation, or speech cues when they are supplied; otherwise retain both supported readings.

These checks can expose the consequences of each tree, but no structural test can recover an intended meaning that the words and context leave open. Punctuation and prosody can guide a reading without creating a one-to-one structural rule.

An ambiguous sentence is not an unfinished analysis.

When both trees are grammatical and fit the available context, keeping both is the accurate result. A model’s stored “canonical” reading or a corpus’s more frequent reading is a default or preference, not proof that the alternative tree is wrong.

Ten sentences from this lesson, one decision at a time.