Unclear "their" in a sentence
Western archaeologists were afraid to call their Syrian colleagues for fear of putting [their lives] at risk.
This sentence above is from an article which explained the dire circumstances of Palmyra after IS took over it. The paragraph that includes this sentence mainly expounds on the concrete atrocities commited by the group.
I'm unsure of whose lives the Western archaeologists feared to put at risk, namely, their own or their Syrian colleagues' lives. (I assumed that it would mean the latter.)
Thank you for reading to this end. Perhaps you would explain, though I suppose this is a trivial question.
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Answers · 7
2
It's ambiguous to me too. It could be either. Based on the context, you're right that it is probably the latter.
1
That’s a great question and points to a major flaw in the English language. Here’s a simpler example : “Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Smith arrived with her husband.” Who’s husband was it? Mrs. Brown’s or Mrs. Smith’s husband? It’s impossible to tell. To correct for this deficiency in the language, native speakers (who are smart) will sometimes say something like, “Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Smith arrived with Mrs. Smith’s husband.” Or, “Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Smith arrived with the latter’s husband.” Some other languages don’t have this problem. For example, in German there’s a different possessive pronoun you can substitute to mean “the latters” and avoid the confusion altogether. It’s just a flaw in the English language, that’s all.
1
Agree with the other answer, that it's a little unclear but probably the colleagues lives.
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