Intermediate Scope Readings as Embedded Speech Acts

Abstract

In this paper we explain the variation in availability of (exceptionally wide) intermediate scope readings (ISRs). We argue that ISRs have to be kept apart from functional readings and provide a formal analysis of ISRs. Our approach is based on the assumption that exceptional wide scope readings are the eect of interpreting the involved indenite as aboutness topic, where the introduction of an aboutness topic is analyzed as a distinct speech act, similar to an act of referring. We adopt this view and show that intermediate scope readings only occur in the presence of certain topic-comment embedding operators.