Re: possible readings of "John seeks a bike or a fish"

[uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu!lee (Greg Lee)]

} 
} I do not understand your statements about "being in and out of several
} scopes."  Something can be definite at an inner scope and indefinite
} at an outer scope, but not indefinite(definite(indefinite)), as far as
} I can see.  I don't understand your example, either.  Please elucidate!

I wasn't talking about definiteness.  Definites without antecedents
have wide scope.  (But with antecedents may have scope confined
within, for example, a negation.)  In the narrow scope reading of
`John seeks a bike', the description `a bike' is attributed to
John, not the sayer of the sentence.  In `Mary wants John to seek
a bike', the appropriateness of the description `a bike' for the thing
sought could be the responsibility of the speaker, Mary, or John:
		There is a bike that Mary wants John to seek.
		Mary wants for there to be a bike that John seeks.
		Mary wants John to try for it to be a bike that he finds.


    -- Greg, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (lee@uhccux on Bitnet)