ExCh1 Ambiguity 1a-b: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:02, 28 September 2012

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

Sorry, your answer is only partially correct.

You might argue that the preposition phrase at the party could attach to the noun guest, to the verb phrase know a guest, or to the entire sentence. In each case, the truth conditions of the sentence are the same.

There is, however, another type of ambiguity in the sentence which leads to readings with distinct truth conditions. Try to find this ambiguity.

For help, check the explanations.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Example sentence: ''Pat didn't know a guest at the party.''
-Yes, your answer is correct!
+Example sentence: ''Pat didn't know a guest at the party.''
-This is a scope ambiguity.
+Sorry, your answer is only partially correct.
-The two readings are:<br />
+You might argue that the preposition phrase ''at the party'' could attach to the noun ''guest'', to the verb phrase ''know a guest'', or to the entire sentence. In each case, the truth conditions of the sentence are the same.
-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 is, however, another type of ambiguity in the sentence which leads to readings with distinct truth conditions. Try to find this ambiguity.
-:: ''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]].
+For help, check the [[Types of ambiguity|explanations]].
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ExCh1 Ambiguity 1a-b: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:02, 28 September 2012

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