scope (n.)

A term originating in logic, and now widely used in SYNTAX, SEMANTICS and PRAGMATICS. In its strictest sense, scope is defined syntactically: if an OPERATOR O combines with some other EXPRESSION E, then E is the scope of O. However, the term is often used more loosely to refer to that stretch of language affected by the meaning of a particular FORM, even if it does not coincide with the scope of that form as just defined. As a general illustration, in English the scope of NEGATION typically extends from the negative word until the end of the CLAUSE; this therefore allows such SEMANTIC contrasts as I deliberately didn’t ask her (= ‘I acted deliberately in not asking her’) and I didn’t deliberately ask her (= ‘It is not true that I deliberately asked her’). ADVERBIALS, INTERROGATIVE forms and QUANTIFIERS are among the expressions which are often analyzed in terms of scope. Sentences where there is an AMBIGUITY deriving from alternative scope interpretations are said to exhibit a scope ambiguity.