Hierarchical structure II

Abstract Like Chapter 12, this chapter provides evidence of children’s early knowledge of hierarchical structure (and rules defined in terms of structural notions like c-command). It focuses in particular on quantifier scope. The notion of quantifier scope—order of operations for interpretation—is introduced alongside the idea that scope ambiguities reflect the fact that the same string of words can have multiple, structurally distinct syntactic representations. The chapter proceeds to argue that 5-year-olds’ apparent struggles with certain scopally ambiguous configurations actually provide evidence for their sensitivity to hierarchical structure. Experiments on speakers of Kannada (a language in which negation can be structurally higher than a quantified expression while occurring linearly later) are especially important to this argument, as both English and Kannada learners are shown to “default” to an interpretation in which the scope of the operators matches the “surface scope,” as determined by hierarchical structure, not linear order.