Control Phenomena

Abstract

Control phenomena have been at the center of syntactic theorizing almost since the inception of generative grammar. To first approximation, control is an interpretive dependency between two arguments: a lexicalized noun phrase (the controller) and a null argument in a dependent clause (the controllee), as in Sandy hopes [ ∅ to succeed] . The primary concerns of syntactic theories have been accounting for various characteristics of the null controllee and the identification of its controller. This chapter surveys some of the phenomena that have driven our current understanding of these issues. Within the domain of obligatory control, some phenomena speak to the controller: the behavior of polyadic predicates, implicit control, variable control and control shift, and exceptional cases like promise . Other phenomena speak to the controllee: exhaustive control, partial control, split control, and control in embedded questions. Assuming that non‐obligatory control is a kind of elsewhere case, the phenomena relevant to non‐obligatory control are those where obligatory control restrictions on controller choice fail to materialize: control into subjects, extraposed clauses, and some adjunct clauses. The chapter also discusses phenomena with a non‐canonical realization of the control relation: backward control and copy control. Within the context of these phenomena, the chapter surveys current generative approaches to the analysis of control: dominant PRO‐based approaches, the movement theory of control, and restructuring analyses. Relative strengths and weaknesses are highlighted.

Noncanonical Obligatory Control

“…Note that the lists are not meant to describe English or any other specific language, where some of the predicates fail to select OC complements; rather, they reflect the overall lexical inventory attested across languages. Thus, declare in English does not select an OC complement but déclarer in French does; the entire interrogative class is not represented in German, which lacks wh-infinitives; etc.3 For previous surveys on the topic of control, covering much of its history, seeDavies and Dubinsky (2004),Stiebels (2007Stiebels ( , 2015,Kirby et al (2010),Landau (2013),Polinsky (2013),Potsdam and Haddad (2017).4 SeeComorovski (1985),Farkas (1985),Dobrovie-Sorin (2001),Alboiu (2007);Sevdali and Sheehan (2021) on Romanian;Zec (1987); Nikolić (2020) on Serbo-Croatrian;Terzi (1992) on Albanian;Iatridou (1988),Terzi (1992Terzi ( , 1997,Varlokosta (1993),Philippaki-Warburton and Catsimali (1999),Roussou (2001Roussou ( , 2009,Sitaridou (2002Sitaridou ( , 2007,Spyropoulos (2007),Kapetangianni (2010),Sevdali and Sheehan (2021) on Greek;32 of 43 -LANDAU…”

“…3 3 For previous surveys on the topic of control, covering much of its history, see Davies and Dubinsky (2004), Stiebels (2007, 2015), Kirby et al. (2010), Landau (2013), Polinsky (2013), Potsdam and Haddad (2017). …”