Dealing with の ambiguities

Question

A simple example:

日本語の勉強の時間

In theory, there could be several interpretations possible:

[日本語の勉強の] 時間

日本語の [勉強の時間]

[日本語の] [勉強の] [時間]

Are there any general rules on how to deal with this kind of ambiguity?

Your example is a bit weird, but in general the answer is **context**. This kind of ambiguity exists in English as much as it does in Japanese, but rarely is it not obvious what is meant from the context. — user3856370, Jan 03 '21 at 15:45
Possibly related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/46817/5010 (I can think of only one sane interpretation of this phrase...) — naruto, Jan 03 '21 at 16:03

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 03 '21 at 17:04

It depends.

(A's B)'s C:

A's (B's C):

Whatever :

Ambiguous:

1 Answers1