Scope relation and structure hierarchy in Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL): exploring ditransitives

In this paper, I adopt scope relation of Quantifier Noun Phrases (QNPs) to investigate the hierarchical structure of ditransitive constructions in HKSL. I argue that HKSL does not have Quantifier Raising. The inverse scope of ONE-phrases is due to their lexical ambiguity between a QNP and a referential DP. When a ONE-phrase is structurally lower, it can take the maximal scope through existential quantification. The scope relations between IO and DO reveals that IO is structurally higher than DO in HKSL. This study provides insights in adopting scope relations to investigate structural hierarchy in sign languages.