Elements of Control

by Landau, Idan

• ISBN13: 9781402002939
• ISBN10: 1402002939
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Print on Demand

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