Elements of Control : Structure and Meaning in Infinitival Constructions

by Landau, Idan

• ISBN13: 9780792366201
• ISBN10: 0792366204
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

This book offers a new outlook on the derivation and interpretation of control constructions. Bringing together novel data and observations, it argues that Obligatory Control comes in two varieties: Exhaustive or Partial Control, the latter obtaining when PRO properly includes the controller. This distinction, arguably universal, is tightly linked to the tense specification of the infinitive. Non-Obligatory Control, on the other hand, is structurally conditioned, obtaining only in VP-external infinitives. A detailed investigation of how control interacts with Super-Equi constructions and psychological predicates sheds new light on issues such as extraposition, argument structure, and semantic selection. This book clears up some common misconceptions about the nature of control, as well as sharpening the empirical challenges that face any comprehensive theory in this domain. Regardless of theoretical framework, scholars of syntax and semantics interested in these topics, will find this book a major contribution to the field.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	v
Table of Contents	vii
Introduction	1	(25)
The Fundamental Questions of Control	1	(2)
A Typology of Control	3	(1)
EC And PC (Chapter 2)	4	(5)
Properties of PC	5	(3)
The Theory In A Nutshell	8	(1)
OC and NOC (Chapter 3)	9	(6)
Super-Equi	10	(4)
Anaphors and Logophors	14	(1)
Control and Predication (Chapter 4)	15	(5)
Implicit Control and Control Shift (Chapter 5)	20	(4)
Implicit Control	20	(3)
Control Shift	23	(1)
The Overall Picture and Open Issues	24	(2)
Exhaustive and Partial Control	26	(66)
Introduction: Categories of Control	26	(2)
Some Immediate Corollaries of Partial Control	28	(3)
Basic Properties of Control	31	(5)
Criteria for OC and NOC	31	(2)
EC vs. NOC	33	(3)
Distinguishing PC from EC	36	(20)
Complement Types of EC and PC	36	(2)
Where PC and EC are Alike	38	(5)
Where PC and EC Differ: Syntactic vs. Semantic Plurality	43	(1)
Desiderative & Interrogative Complements	43	(2)
Factive Complements	45	(1)
Propositional Complements	46	(2)
Semantic vs. Syntactic Plurality	48	(5)
Excursion: Split Control	53	(2)
Intermediate Summary: The Typology of Control	55	(1)
PC-Complements as a Natural Class: The Role of Tense	56	(5)
An Analysis	61	(13)
Semantic Number and Contentful Tense: Assumptions	61	(3)
Agree with Agr (PC) or PRO (EC)	64	(8)
On Agr in C	72	(2)
Varieties of EC: CP Complements and VP Complements	74	(8)
Implicatives: Null or Contentful Tense?	75	(2)
Implicative Complements Are CP's	77	(2)
Restructuring with Desideratives	79	(3)
Some consequences and Problems	82	(4)
An Overt Relative: German Inclusive Man	82	(2)
A Puzzle: French Se-Predicates	84	(2)
An Alternative Proposal: Martin (1996)	86	(6)
Summary	91	(1)
Obligatory and Non-Obligatory Control	92	(37)
Introduction	92	(2)
Super-Equi: The Data	94	(5)
The Problem	94	(2)
Crosslinguistic Confirmation	96	(3)
An Analysis	99	(5)
Configurational Consequences	104	(5)
Some Problems and Solutions	109	(4)
Logophoric Extension / Inalienable Possession	109	(2)
Apparent OC in Intraposition	111	(2)
Deriving The Distribution of OC and NOC	113	(9)
OC and Agree	114	(1)
OC ≠ Condition A	115	(3)
NOC and Logophoricity	118	(4)
A Critical History of Super-Equi	122	(7)
Summary	128	(1)
Control and Predication	129	(26)
Introduction	129	(1)
Adjectives and Infinitival Complements: The Puzzle	130	(3)
Semantic Selection and Clause-Typing	133	(4)
Argument-Modifier Asymmetries	137	(5)
Two Apparent Problems	142	(3)
No Proarb Under Psych-Adjectives	142	(1)
Eager vs. Easy	143	(2)
A Crosslinguistic Correlation	145	(6)
Consequences for the Theory of Control	151	(4)
Summary	154	(1)
Implicit Control and Control Shift	155	(50)
Introduction	155	(2)
Implicit Control	157	(12)
Control by Implicit Datives	157	(3)
Challenges to Control by Implicit Datives	160	(8)
Implicit Dative Control in Purpose Clauses	168	(1)
Control by Implicit Agents	169	(14)
Visser's Generalization	169	(5)
Contexts of Implicit Agent Control	174	(1)
Impersonal Passives	174	(2)
Adjuncts	176	(3)
Rationale Clauses: The ship was sunk to drive linguists nuts	179	(4)
Control Shift	183	(14)
The Data	183	(3)
Theories of Control Shift	186	(1)
``No Special Mechanism'' Theories	186	(1)
Melvold (1985)	186	(2)
Petter (1998)	188	(2)
``Special Mechanism'' Theories	190	(1)
Bresnan (1982)	190	(2)
Farkas (1988)	192	(3)
Sag & Pollard (1991)	195	(2)
The Status of the MDP	197	(8)
Summary	203	(2)
References	205	(4)
Index	209