**A diachronic explanation for cross-linguistic variation in the use of
inverse-scope constructions**
*Omri Amiraz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem*
**Time**: Saturday, May 8th, 10:05-10:45
**Overview**: This study investigates the cross-linguistic variation in the
use of inverse-scope constructions such as *All that glitters is not gold*
for expressing “not all X are Y” propositions. In particular, it seeks to
explain why these constructions are in use and even common in some
languages but lacking in others. The language sample contains 110 languages
from diverse language families and linguistic areas. For 31 of these
languages, diachronic data are also available. The main claim is that the
cross-linguistic variation is explained by competition with alternative
scope-transparent constructions, but only when the history of individual
languages is taken into consideration. When a language develops a novel
construction such as *Not all that glitters is gold*, which expresses scope
relations transparently, it may take several centuries before this novel
construction finally pushes a pre-existing inverse-scope construction out
of use. In the meantime, inverse scope is used alongside its
scope-transparent competitor.
**Contact**: omri.amiraz@mail.huji.ac.il
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