Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate linguistic ambiguity in headlines of some
Sudanese newspapers published in English language. It also aims to detect
the linguistic source of ambiguity and the extent to which these sources are
operative in the Sudanese newspapers, in order to capture the exact
interpretation. To achieve this aim, the researcher adopted the descriptive
analytical approach. The sample of the study consisted of (5) participants;
language experts. The researcher used two instruments to achieve the aim of
the study. The first instrument was the pre-test which consisted of (10) items
and the second instrument was the productive test which also consisted of
(50) items. The second instrument was the written interview which was
designed to measure the participants' level of exposure to the language. The
collected data were analyzed and treated statistically through the use of
(SPSS). The findings indicated that the linguistic ambiguity is commonly
used in the Sudanese newspaper headlines. It also shows that there are two
kinds of linguistic ambiguity involved in both target newspapers headlines;
grammatical ambiguity, and semantic ambiguity. The findings confirmed
that the readers of the Sudanese newspaper sometimes get confused in
interpreting the exact meaning of such headlines. Moreover, Sudanese
journalists preferably use semantic ambiguity rather than grammatical
ambiguity in headlines in order to attract readers' attention. In the light of
those findings, the study recommended the students of English language
with the necessity of shedding more light on linguistic ambiguity in the
headlines of Sudanese newspapers published in English language. It also
recommended the readers of the newspaper; in order to figure out the right
interpretation and the exact meaning, they should understand the topic of the
articles and the context of the headline beside reading the whole paragraph.
The study recommended that the journalists; should consciously, use
ambiguous headlines in the acceptable amount otherwise they may lose
those readers. In the same way, the study suggested further researches in
Arabic newspapers headlines, beside the ambiguity in the language of
advertisements.
