Glossary:Scope Ambiguity

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Scope Ambiguity

/skəʊp æmbigjʊɘti/

Definition

Scope ambiguities arise when the scope (scope: an area over which activity, capacity, or influence extends) of a part - or parts - of a sentence is unclear. Quantifiers (words like 'every') and negations often give rise to scope ambiguites.

Examples

Every man loves a woman.

Reading 1: For every man there is some woman that he loves Reading 2: Every man loves the same woman

Not all that glitters is gold.

Reading 1: Reading 2:

Related terms

• Lexical Ambiguity
• Ambiguity
• Structural Ambiguity

References

• Bieswanger, Markus/Becker, Annette (2008): Introduction to English Linguistics. 2te aktual. Aufl. A Francke Verlag, Tübingen und Basel., p. 155/156.
• Ambiguity in Utrecht University, Lexicon of Linguistics
• Thesaurus entry on 'scope'
• http://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/projects/milca/courses/comsem/html/node92.html