AbstractThe syntax-semantics interface is iconic in that it maps syntactic asymmetries (in particular, unilateral c-command) onto semantic asymmetries (scope relations). But many modification structures seem to violate this iconicity: here the modifier has (optionally or obligatorily) semantic scope over only a part of the expression that it modifies syntactically.First I will show that some well-known cases of syntax-semantics mismatch are instances of this phenomenon. Then I will specify an

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... tremely flexible syntax-semantics interface to handle the apparent anti-iconicity. This interface crucially relies on the expressive power of a suitable underspecification formalism.With the interface one can derive the semantic representations of the problematic examples from surface-oriented syntactic structures without giving up the iconicity between syntax and semantics.Apparent anti-iconicity eventually emerges as scope underspecification between a modifier and part of the expression that it modifies. The analysis is applied to German and Turkish data.