Glossary:Scope Ambiguity

Warning:
The material on this page has been created as part of a seminar. It is still heavily under construction and we do not guarantee its correctness. If you have comments on this page or suggestions for improvement, please contact Manfred Sailer.
This note will be removed once the page has been carefully checked and integrated into the main part of this wiki.

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

1. 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 -> The different meaningsare determined by which quantifier is given the widest scope. By giving 'every' the widest scope, reading 1 arises; by giving 'a' the widest scope, reading 2 arises.

2. All that glitters is not gold.

Reading 1: Everything that glitters is not made of gold; Conclusion: This rock glitters so it cannot be gold Reading 2: Not everything that glitters is gold; Conclusion: This rock glitters so it might be gold but it does not have to be. -> The different meanings are determined by the scope of the word not. By giving it a narrow scope ('not' only applies to ' gold'), reading 1 arises; by giving it a broad scope ('not' applies to 'All that glitters is gold'), reading 2 arises.

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