Scope Ambiguity Research Articles

Linearism, Universalism and Scope Ambiguities

Linearism, Universalism and Scope Ambiguities

Negative scope ambiguity in serial verb constructions in Jordanian Arabic: an experimental investigation

Negative scope ambiguity in serial verb constructions in Jordanian Arabic: an experimental investigation

Prosodic disambiguation and the scope ambiguity of sentences with negation and disjunction in Dutch

Prosodic disambiguation and the scope ambiguity of sentences with negation and disjunction in Dutch

An Experimental Investigation into the Scope Assignment of Japanese and Chinese Quantifier-Negation Sentences

Quantifier-Negation sentences such as all teachers did not use Sandy’s car are known to allow an inverse scope interpretation in English. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence to determine whether this interpretation is allowed in equivalent sentences in Japanese and Chinese. To address this issue, this study conducted a sentence–picture matching truth value judgment experiment in both Japanese and Chinese. The data suggested that Japanese Quantifier-Negation sentences do allow inverse scope readings, which suggests that the subject may be interpreted within the scope of negation. In contrast, Chinese Quantifier-Negation sentences prohibit inverse scope readings, which is in accordance with the strong scope rigidity consistently observed in this language. This paper also discussed how to develop a valid experiment for investigating scope ambiguities.

Semantic scope ambiguity in gapping and non-constituent coordination: a generative analysis

Semantic scope ambiguity in gapping and non-constituent coordination: a generative analysis

Holding it together: an exploratory study on the social structures of digital collection management

PurposeThe academic library’s physical capacity and its service obligations to local users structured the traditional print collection. Largely freed of these constraints, the digital collection manager enjoys unprecedented freedoms but now contends with a collection susceptible to resource sprawl and scope ambiguity. This exploratory study aims to consider the possibility that intra-field social processes help to structure and routinize digital collection practice.Design/methodology/approachLacking the constraints to which print collections are subject, electronic resource and digital library collections are more likely to reflect idiosyncratic institutional interests and therefore, to demonstrate significant variation. Evidence of homogeneity may suggest the influence of heretofore underexplored social structures. To determine the extent of such homogeneity, the author performed exploratory/descriptive content analyses on ten electronic resource collection development policies and six digital library collection development policies.FindingsThe data reveal among both the electronic resource and digital library collection policies significant uniformity. Content analyses demonstrate consistent themes (e.g. media, audience, selection priorities, etc.) and rhetoric. These findings lend support to the study’s central hypothesis regarding latent social structures. Analyses also reveal a set of unanticipated constraints unique to digital collection management.Originality/valueDespite the breadth and maturity of literature addressing the Digital Turn in academic librarianship, relatively little attention has been paid to the social dimensions of collection management. This work represents an important corrective and suggests new theoretical approaches to the study of digital collection practice.

An Analysis of Data Collection Tasks Used in Studies on Scope Ambiguity in

An Analysis of Data Collection Tasks Used in Studies on Scope Ambiguity in

An experimental investigation into scope rigidity in written Mandarin.

Mandarin Chinese is claimed to be a scope-rigid language, as its doubly-quantified simple transitive sentences are unambiguous with surface scope only and no inverse scope available. However, it has been debated whether Mandarin Chinese allows inverse scope in some syntactic environments other than simple transitives. This paper investigates whether scope rigidity as a property of the grammar of Mandarin prevents scope ambiguity in different syntactic environments and what factors influence scope interpretations. Using a Truth-Value Judgment task, we tested the judgments of 98 Mandarin Chinese native speakers on transitive sentences containing both a subject and object quantifier under adverbial clauses. The results show that inverse scope reading is considered available for doubly-quantified transitives under adverbial clauses, although there are intra-participant variances. The results challenge the well-established approaches to quantifier scope in Mandarin and call for rethinking the long-standing dichotomy view of quantifier scope in languages. We also found bimodal distribution on the acceptance of inverse scope readings, suggesting that there may be two different populations of native speakers with two different grammars. In addition, we also observed other factors that may affect scope behaviors, including clause type, presence of aspect marker, verb type, and numbers.

Processing covert dependency: An eye-tracking study of scope interpretations of embedded Wh-questions in Mandarin.

Non-local dependency in Mandarin wh-questions has been extensively researched in theoretical linguistics, but it remains an under-studied topic in the field of language processing. Unlike languages that require wh-movement to form wh-questions, Mandarin is a wh-in-situ language, and hence is generally assumed to require a covert dependency between a wh-phrase and its scope-bearing position. Mandarin therefore provides an ideal linguistic environment in which to study not only cognitive-processing mechanisms, but also how different types of non-local dependency, especially covert dependency, can be handled by readers. This paper investigates the processing of such covert non-local dependency in multiple embedded clauses, that is, multiple complementizer phrases (CPs). In wh-in-situ sentences with multiple CPs, the wh-phrases' scope varies according to the types of verbs and their embedded clauses. Based on the subcategorization of clausal verbs, we designed four experimental conditions: double-embedded low scope, double-embedded high scope, double-embedded ambiguous scope, and long distance in pivotal construction. According to memory-based and distance-based language processing theories, the low-scope condition should be easier to process than the high-scope one, because the former has a shorter linear distance than the latter when forming dependencies; and pivotal construction should be easier to process than high-scope embedded clauses, because the former has a shorter structural distance. In cases where both low- and high-scope interpretations are possible, we aim to determine whether readers exhaust every potential interpretation during comprehension, or adopt a 'good-enough' approach to obtaining an interpretation via an easier and less costly process. To this end, we will adopt the eye-tracking technique that allows us to obtain fine-grained reading-time data, which can be used to compare processing across conditions. The results will contribute to understanding human readers' mechanisms for processing covert dependency and resolving scope ambiguity in wh-in-situ languages.

Multifaceted Dimensions of Ambiguity in English

Language is an effective means of communication. Words, phrases, and sentences are the standard units of a language. Every word is associated with a particular meaning/sense. Sometimes the meaning of a word undergoes a change, depending on the context or the structure. This triggers ambiguity. When a word, a phrase or a sentence is said to have more than one meaning or multiple meaning, they are said to be ambiguous. Homophonous or polysemous words can give rise to ambiguity depending on the context. There are various types of ambiguity in English. They include lexical ambiguity, syntactic/structural ambiguity, pragmatic ambiguity, phonological ambiguity, scope ambiguity, anaphoric/ referential ambiguity, semantic ambiguity, etc. Lexical ambiguity arises due to polysemous words. Structural ambiguity occurs when a phrase, clause or a sentence possesses more than one meaning. Phonological ambiguity arises when homophonous words—words having identical sounds –are used. Anaphoric ambiguity is perceived when there is more than one potential antecedent in the text. Scope ambiguity is found when a structure has two or more than two quantifiers or floating quantifiers and conveys more than one meaning. When the functional value of a phrase or a sentence changes, we find pragmatic ambiguity. When a sentence or a structure has more than two meanings, it contains multiple ambiguity. Ambiguous words lend a spicy dimension to the use and application of the language. Ambiguous words or phrases or sentences present in a text enhance the value of the text. Ambiguous words, phrases, and sentences are interesting and entertaining. Ambiguity tests our sophisticated cognitive skills for disambiguating. This disambiguation imparts pleasure to us. Ambiguity can assess our competence in the language. It tests the skill of comprehension. We enjoy disambiguating words, phrases and sentences in English from the core of our heart, and our disambiguating these whets our competence in the language.

When parsing and interpretation misalign: A case of WH-scope ambiguity in Mandarin

A large amount of sentence-processing work has focused on revealing how the parser incrementally integrates each incoming word into the current linguistic representation. It is often explicitly or implicitly assumed that the structure endorsed by the parser should determine the ultimate interpretation of the sentence. The current study investigates whether the interpretive bias in sentence comprehension necessarily tracks the parsing bias. Our case study concerns the locality bias in nonlocal dependencies, specifically Mandarin wh-in-situ scope dependencies. Our findings suggest a misalignment between parsing and interpretative decisions at the global level. In particular, for Mandarin wh-in-situ constructions that involve scope ambiguity, there is a locality bias in parsing, but an antilocality bias in interpretation. Building upon the rational speech act framework, we propose a Bayesian pragmatic analysis to account for these findings. Under our proposal, the seeming conflict between parsing and interpretation will ultimately disappear because parsing preferences will be naturally embedded under the pragmatic reasoning process to generate the ultimate interpretation. The current study therefore makes novel contributions, both empirically and theoretically, to addressing the broader question about the relationship between parsing and interpretation.

On the distribution of scope ambiguities in Polish

Polish, an SVO language with relatively free constituent order, has a scope extending mechanism of quantifier raising that shows remarkable similarities to quantifier raising in English. The paper shows experimentally that SVO and OVS structures in Polish are scopally ambiguous. Furthermore, ditransitive structures are scopally rigid when the indirect object precedes the direct object but ambiguous when the direct object precedes the indirect object (Łęska 2019), a fact which we show to hold independently of whether the indirect object is realized as a DP or a PP. The phrase structure of ditransitive VPs in Polish mirrors the geometry that Janke & Neeleman (2012) proposed for English ditransitives, though the category of the indirect object again plays no role. Pulling these findings together, we adapt Bruening’s (2001) analysis of scope freezing in English to our own analysis of Polish.Our findings contradict the idea that free word order languages lack quantifier raising and/or reconstruction for scope. The results are, however, fully compatible with multifactorial approaches to word order and scope.

Scope and gender in Hebrew generic second person

Generic second person may be partially or totally generic. In Hebrew, a highly gendered language, the scope of masculine and feminine generic 2SG may be either total or limited to the given gender. The borders between personal, limited generic and total generic use are often fuzzy. I discuss these complex interrelations between scope, gender and interchangeability of generic and personal 2SG in a corpus of journalistic interviews, focusing on issues such as simulated interlocutor, inner dialogue, shifted viewpoint, and dramatic simulation. Opaque switch points from personal to generic are found to characterize typical environments, including after directives or questions. Gender switch reflects viewpoint shifts. Scope ambiguity and interchangeability, even within a single utterance, enhance the pragmatic effect of generic 2SG.

An Analysis of Data Collection Tasks Used in Studies on Scope Ambiguity in English Involving Universal Quantifiers and Negation

This study examines types and characteristics of data collection tasks used in studies on scope ambiguity in English involving a universally quantified noun phrase and negation, and investigates any differences in comprehension patterns across studies using different tasks. Since Musolino’s seminal 1998 study using a truth value judgment task, several other studies on English scope ambiguity have used the same task type or variations on it, while others have tested different tasks. Through a keyword search of relevant databases, the present study found a total of 13 studies dealing with the topic of universal quantification and negation in English published since 1998. Based on tasks’ key characteristics and how they were conducted, seven different basic task types were identified. A comparison of the results of the studies found a difference in the overall comprehension patterns of English native speakers for sentences containing a universally quantified noun phrase in subject position between the truth value judgment task with one type of context story and the other tasks. The results are discussed in terms of their methodological implications, and some suggestions for further research from methodological perspectives are provided.

On Some (A)symmetrical Properties of Scramblings

This paper investigates symmetrical and asymmetrical properties of clause- internal scrambling and clause-external scrambling in Korean. We first assume that the binding condition applies derivationally while scope interpretation is obtained solely at LF. Concerning binding, the two types of scrambling display (a)symmetric properties that are not well-captured under previous analyses based on the traditional A/A’ distinction. Following Hicks’s (2008) assumption that the binding condition applies throughout the derivation, we show that binding facts can be explained if we examine the derivational history of scrambled elements. We further show that (a)symmetrical scope facts of clause-internal scrambling and clause-external scrambling are not well-captured under the canonical copy-theory of movements. In the case of QP-QP scope interaction, clause-internal scrambling induces scope ambiguity while clause-external scrambling does not. Regarding this contrast, we suggest that the wide scope interpretation of a quantifier in clause-internal scrambling results from the base-generation of the scope-bearing element at a clause-initial position, whereas the narrow scope interpretation of a quantifier in clause-internal scrambling results from the lowering of the moved quantifier. We lend further support to the proposal that the absence of a wide scope interpretation of a quantifier in the case of clause- external scrambling results from the obligatory reconstruction of the moved QP. However, when a negative polarity item is introduced into the sentence, clause-internal and clause-external scrambled QPs take only wide scope over negation. We suggest that symmetric scope facts related to NPI-QP interaction hinge on a ban on Relativized Minimality violation.

On Some (A)symmetrical Properties of Scramblings

This paper investigates symmetrical and asymmetrical properties of clause- internal scrambling and clause-external scrambling in Korean. We first assume that the binding condition applies derivationally while scope interpretation is obtained solely at LF. Concerning binding, the two types of scrambling display (a)symmetric properties that are not well-captured under previous analyses based on the traditional A/A’ distinction. Following Hicks’s (2008) assumption that the binding condition applies throughout the derivation, we show that binding facts can be explained if we examine the derivational history of scrambled elements. We further show that (a)symmetrical scope facts of clause-internal scrambling and clause-external scrambling are not well-captured under the canonical copy-theory of movements. In the case of QP-QP scope interaction, clause-internal scrambling induces scope ambiguity while clause-external scrambling does not. Regarding this contrast, we suggest that the wide scope interpretation of a quantifier in clause-internal scrambling results from the base-generation of the scope-bearing element at a clause-initial position, whereas the narrow scope interpretation of a quantifier in clause-internal scrambling results from the lowering of the moved quantifier. We lend further support to the proposal that the absence of a wide scope interpretation of a quantifier in the case of clause- external scrambling results from the obligatory reconstruction of the moved QP. However, when a negative polarity item is introduced into the sentence, clause-internal and clause-external scrambled QPs take only wide scope over negation. We suggest that symmetric scope facts related to NPI-QP interaction hinge on a ban on Relativized Minimality violation.

Native and second language processing of quantifier scope ambiguity

The present study investigates native (L1) and second language (L2) processing of scope ambiguities in English sentences containing the universal quantifier every in subject NP and negation. Previous studies in L1 and L2 processing of scope ambiguities have found speakers to generally employ a ‘minimal effort’ principle that highly prefers the surface scope reading regardless of contextual support because accessing the inverse scope reading incurs significant processing cost. The present study compared L1 and L2 scope judgments and processing strategies of sentences such as Every horse didn’t jump over the fence and examined whether the two groups differ in their speed and manner of analysis. Thirty native English speakers and 42 Korean learners of English participated in a self-paced reading/interpretation task that has context (ambiguous vs. unambiguous) and scope reading (surface vs. inverse) as variables. The results revealed significant differences in scope endorsement rates with L2 learners arriving at the surface scope as the dominant reading and L1 learners’ judgments being highly dependent on contextual ambiguity. Moreover, L1 vs. L2 differences in processing strategies were found: L2 learners exhibited a strong tendency to arrive at the most economical interpretation while L1 speakers consulted detailed syntactic and semantic rules of computation.

Selectives (“topic markers”) on subordinate clauses

AbstractThis typological study based on data from a parallel text corpus is a two-step investigation of selectives (“topic markers”). First, a set of selectives in 81 languages from all continents is compiled on the basis of their occurrence with emphatic personal pronouns in contrast constructions. In a second step, it is explored how this set of markers is used across 19 subordinate clause domains. The results indicate that, despite much crosslinguistic diversity, the distribution of selectives across subordinate clauses is strongly constrained. Selectives in subordinate clauses are distributed following a tendency scale (no strict hierarchy, but no blatant exceptions): general relative clauses rank highest followed by conditional and temporal clauses with concessive and purpose clauses ranking lowest. No postposed subordinate clauses attract selectives. It is further found that selectives tend to occur at the end of the constituent which they have scope over where there is minimal risk of scope ambiguity. Despite the frequent occurrence of selectives on conditional clauses, selectives tend not to be conditional connectives unless this happens to be their grammaticalization source.

Binding without variables: Solving the under-generation problems

The variable-free semantics of Jacobson (1999, 2000, 2014) derives binding relations by the local application of the z-rule. This rule, however, under- generates binding. This paper makes two contributions: (i) replacing the z-rule with a more flexible rule called i (a la the W-combinator of Szabolcsi 1992), which allows for more binding relations; (ii) enriching Jacobson’s variable-free system and proposing a two-dimensional analysis to account for the interactions between scoping and binding. Issues to be covered include binding into adjuncts, possessor binding, scope ambiguity, inverse linking, weak crossover, and ‘paycheck pronouns’.

Glue Semantics

Glue Semantics (Glue) is a general framework for semantic composition and the syntax–semantics interface. The framework grew out of an interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of formal linguistics, formal logic, and computer science. Glue assumes a separate level of syntax; this can be any syntactic framework in which syntactic structures have heads. Glue uses a fragment of linear logic for semantic composition. General linear logic terms in Glue meaning constructors are instantiated relative to a syntactic parse. The separation of the logic of composition from structural syntax distinguishes Glue from other theories of semantic composition and the syntax–semantics interface. It allows Glue to capture semantic ambiguity, such as quantifier scope ambiguity, without necessarily positing an ambiguity in the syntactic structure. Glue is introduced here in relation to four of its key properties, which are used as organizing themes: resource-sensitive composition, flexible composition, autonomy of syntax, and syntax/semantics non-isomorphism.