ExCh1 Ambiguity 1a-c: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 05:56, 28 September 2012

Example sentence: Pat didn't know a guest at the party.

Yes, your answer is correct!

This is a scope ambiguity.

The two readings are:
Reading 1: Not > Some

Pat knew no guest at the party.

More formally: It is not the case that there was a guest at the party that Pat knew.

In this reading the negation has scope over the indefinite a guest.

Reading 2: Some > Not

There was one guest at the party Pat didn't know.

More formally: There was a guest at that party such that it is not the case that Pat knew this guest.

In this reading the indefinite a guest has scope over the negation.

Follow the link to get more explanations.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Example sentence: ''Pat didn't know a guest at the party.''
-Sorry, your answer is not correct.
+Yes, your answer is correct!
-This is not a collective/distributive ambiguity.
+This is a scope ambiguity.
-For such an ambiguity to arise, we typically need at least one plural entity.
+The two readings are:<br />
+Reading 1: Not > Some
+:: ''Pat knew no guest at the party.''
+:: More formally: ''It is not the case that there was a guest at the party that Pat knew.''
+:: In this reading the negation has scope over the indefinite ''a guest''.
-Try again or check the [[Types of ambiguity|explanations]].
+Reading 2: Some > Not
+:: ''There was one guest at the party Pat didn't know.''<br />
+:: More formally: ''There was a guest at that party such that it is not the case that Pat knew this guest.''
+:: In this reading the indefinite ''a guest'' has scope over the negation.
+Follow the link to get more [[Types of ambiguity|explanations]].
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