Beauty of Language

Language is so ambiguous, and hence so difficult to analyze. I came across an extreme example the other day, which is kind of representative of the ambiguity in dealing with language. The following sentence can have different meanings depending upon how it is spoken:

I didn't say he stole the money.

The change in meaning comes from variation in which word is given stress while speaking. Here are a few interpretations of the sentence, with the word being given stress in bold.

I didn't say he stole the money
... some else may have said it

I didn't say he stole the money
... the literal meaning

I didn't say he stole the money
... just hinted, implied ??

I didn't say he stole the money
... i didn't mean him

I didn't say he stole the money
... may he just borrowed it, with the intention of returning it

I didn't say he stole the money

... not that money

I didn't say he stole the money

... not the money, I mean something else - xyz ...

Most common situations may not be that extreme, but just serves to highlight the challenges to understand text, and currently the state-of-the-art is just skimming the surface.

PS: Cross-posted from my Peepaal blog post