| Description |
A sentence containing multiple quantifiers can be ambiguous in languages like English. In some other languages, these sentences are unambiguous and the inverse scope reading is not readily available. These languages are called scope rigid languages. In some of these languages, it has been argued that inverse scope becomes available only if a special prosodic contour is imposed on the sentence. For German, this special contour is the rise-fall contour, where the first quantifier is marked with a rising intonation and the second one with a falling intonation. For Russian, this special contour is realized as prosodic prominence on the lower quantifier and a prosodic break between the two quantifiers. This thesis investigates the availability of inverse scope under different prosodic conditions in Turkish, another scope rigid language. In a survey, Turkish native speakers were asked to judge simple SOV sentences with subject and object quantifiers. Results show that the prosodic condition itself does not contribute to the availability of inverse scope, suggesting that Russian and German facts may point to language-specific cases. It has also been found that in some quantifier configurations, inverse scope is readily available regardless of prosodic contours. This finding challenges the idea of scope rigidity parameter and suggests that the parameter should be defined over specific constructions rather than entire languages. |
