Phonological Ambiguity

A type of linguistic ambiguity that occurs when there are two words which sound the same but have different meanings (homophones). In the Milton Model, phonological ambiguity is used as an indirect suggestion technique — the conscious mind hears one meaning while the unconscious mind processes another. Classic examples include 'right/write/rite', 'here/hear', 'know/no', and 'you/ewe'. Milton Erickson was a master of embedding therapeutic suggestions within phonologically ambiguous language.