scholarly journals Obligatory Control in Irish and Polish: A Reappraisal

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
Anna Bondaruk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Partial Control ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
Empty Category ◽  
P Movement ◽  
Finite Clause

Obligatory control (henceforth, OC) has constituted a topic extensively discussed in the literature (cf., for instance, Williams (1980), Landau (2000), Wurmbrand (2001)). Recently the controversy over OC has climaxed in the emergence of two rivaling approaches, deriving it via two distinct mechanisms. The movement theory of control, advocated by Hornstein (1999, 2001, 2003), Boeckx and Hornstein (2004, 2006), among others, derives OC by means of the N(D)P-movement of the alleged controller of PRO without posting PRO as a separate empty category altogether. The latter approach – the calculus of control proposed by Landau (2004, 2008) – maintaining the existence of PRO, obtains OC thanks to the interplay between C and I found in the non-finite clause. The present paper is rooted within the second approach and its main objective consists in providing an analysis of OC in Irish and Polish. The paper starts with a short overview of two subtypes of OC, i.e. exhaustive and partial control. This is followed by a brief outline of Landau’s (2004, 2008) model. Afterwards, an attempt is made to analyse Irish and Polish OC within Landau’s calculus of control.

Who is the agent? The influence of pragmatic leads on children's reference assignment in non-obligatory control

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIKKI JANKE
Keyword(s):  
Current Understanding ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Reference Resolution ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Selection Tasks ◽  
Finite Clause

AbstractNon-obligatory control constructions (NOC) are sentences which contain a non-finite clause with a null subject whose reference is determined pragmatically. Little is known about how children assign reference to these subjects, yet this is important as our current understanding of reference-resolution development is limited to less complex sentences with overt elements, such as pronouns. This study explores how seventy-six children (aged six to eleven) consult pragmatic leads when assigning reference in two examples of NOC. Children undertook three picture-selection tasks, containing no lead, a weak lead, and a strong lead, and their reference choices in the critical sentences were monitored. The novel results pinpoint children's baseline interpretations of the ambiguous sentences and expose an age trend in the degree to which they consult strong pragmatic leads when resolving reference. These trends illustrate how reference assignment in more complex discourse-governed contexts progresses, thereby contributing an important dimension to the pragmatics acquisition literature.

scholarly journals Obligatory and Non-Obligatory Control in Irish and Polish

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Anna Bondaruk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Partial Control ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
De Se ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
The One ◽  
Aspectual Verbs ◽  
Strict Reading

This paper aims at establishing a typology of control in Irish and Polish non-finite clauses. First, seven classes of predicates taking non-finite complements in Irish and Polish are specified. They include: modal (e.g. must), aspectual (e.g. start), implicative (e.g. manage), factive (e.g. like), prepositional (e.g. say), desiderative (e.g. want) and interrogative verbs (e.g. ask). Whereas modals and aspectuals typically take raising complements, the remaining predicate classes require control complements. Control clauses in Polish always have a covert PRO subject, while in Irish their subject may be either the covert PRO or an overt DP. The PRO subject may be either obligatorily controlled or is controlled optionally. The criteria adopted in distinguishing obligatory control (OC) from non-obligatory control (NOC) are based on Landau (2000) and comprise the following: (1) a. Arbitrary Control is impossible in OC, possible in NOC; b. Long-distance control is impossible in OC, possible in NOC; c. Strict reading of PRO is impossible in OC, possible in NOC; d. De re reading of PRO is impossible in OC (only de se), possible in NOC. The validity of these criteria for establishing the OC/NOC contrast in Irish and Polish is scrutinised. Various contexts are examined where both these control types obtain in the two languages studied. Most notably, OC tends to occur in complement clauses, while NOC is often found in subject and adjunct clauses both in Irish and Polish. Within the class of OC, two subgroups are recognised, namely exhaustive control (EC) and partial control (PC). The former control type holds when the reference of PRO and its antecedent are identical, whereas the latter type of control is attested when the reference of PRO covers the reference of its antecedent, but is not entirely co-extensive with it, e.g.: (2) a. Maryᵢ managed [PROᵢ to win] = EC; b. Maryᵢ wanted [PRO + to meet at 6] = PC. EC and PC are found in analogous contexts in Irish and Polish. EC occurs in complements to modal, implicative and aspectual verbs, while PC is limited to complements to factive, desiderative, prepositional and interrogative predicates. It is argued that EC-complements lack independent tense specification, while PC-complements are marked for tense independent from the one expressed in the matrix clause. PC-complements both in Irish and Polish must contain a semantically plural predicate (cf. meet in (2b)), but they can never exhibit a syntactically plural element.

Scrambling and Control

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Takano
Keyword(s):  
Long Distance ◽  
Variable Binding ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Finite Clause ◽  
And Control

This article argues for two points: that scrambling out of a control clause patterns with scrambling out of a finite clause and that obligatory control is derived by movement of the controller. The argument is based on hitherto unnoticed facts about binding effects with scrambling out of a control clause in Japanese. It is proposed that those facts can only be accounted for by looking at an interaction of long-distance scrambling and movement of the controller. It is also shown that the proposal has important consequences for the nature of scrambling, pronominal variable binding, and subject control.

scholarly journals Icelandic Control Is Not A-Movement: The Case from Case

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan David Bobaljik ◽  
Idan Landau
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Infinitival Complements ◽  
Domain Independent

A rich literature on Icelandic syntax has established that infinitival complements of obligatory control verbs constitute a case assignment domain independent from the matrix clause, and in this differ systematically from all types of A-movement, which manifest case dependence/preservation. As Landau (2003) has observed, these facts provide significant counterevidence to the movement theory of control (Hornstein 1999 and subsequent work). Boeckx and Hornstein (2006a) attempt to defend this theory in light of data from Icelandic. We offer here a review of the relevant literature, and we show that Boeckx and Hornstein's reply fails on several counts. We further argue that contrary to their claims, PRO in Icelandic receives structural rather than default (nominative) case, leaving the movement theory with no account for the distinction between PRO and lexical subjects.

Reviewing Minimalist Theories of Control and a Brief Look at Romanian Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-214
Author(s):  
Mihaela Buzec
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
Applied Model ◽  
Control Theories

"Reviewing Minimalist Theories of Control and a Brief Look at Romanian Control. The phenomenon of control is a long-discussed topic within the enterprise of generative grammar. Multiple theories were composed and dismissed along with the advancement of the module, and with the development of the Minimalist program, more recent theories on control came to surface. The present article provides a review of two minimalist theories of control: the Movement Theory of Control and the Agree Model of Obligatory Control. A synopsis of one applied model of the MTC on Romanian data is also part of the paper, as is a brief commentary on the structure of Romanian control, namely an exploration of the tension between subjunctive and infinitive control complements. Keywords: control theories, minimalist program, Romanian control, Agree Model of Control, Movement Theory of Control "

scholarly journals Effects of discourse on control

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIKKI JANKE ◽  
LAURA R. BAILEY
Keyword(s):  
Long Distance ◽  
Model Reference ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Empty Category ◽  
Distance Control ◽  
Structural Account ◽  
Linear Distance ◽  
Control Survey ◽  
Reference Determination ◽  
Adjunct Control

This study examined discourse effects on obligatory and non-obligatory control interpretations. Seventy participants undertook three online forced-choice surveys, which monitored preferred interpretations in complement control, verbal gerund subject control, long-distance control and sentence-final temporal adjunct control. Survey 1 ascertained their baseline interpretations of the empty category in these constructions. Survey 2 primed the critical sentences used in survey 1 with a weakly established topic of discourse and survey 3 primed them with a strongly established one. Reference assignment in complement control remained consistent across all three conditions, illustrating that pragmatics does not infiltrate this structurally regulated and syntactically unambiguous construction. Changes in interpretation were found in the remaining three constructions. An accessibility-motivated scale of influence, combining three independent discourse factors (topichood, competition and linear distance) was created to model reference determination in verbal gerund subject control and long-distance control. The results for temporal adjunct control are novel. They revealed a much stronger susceptibility to pragmatic interference than that reported in the literature yet the construction behaved differently from non-obligatory control under discourse pressure. We propose a structural account for sentence-final temporal adjunct control, which permits the evident interpretation shift while still excluding arbitrary and sentence-external interpretations.

Not all obligatory control is movement

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 893-906
Author(s):  
FYODOR BAYKOV ◽  
PAVEL RUDNEV
Keyword(s):  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Movement Theory

This squib presents two challenges for the analysis of promise-type verbs within the Movement Theory of Control. We show that the objects of these verbs in Russian are not prepositional and are incorrectly predicted to be legitimate controllers. We also argue against analysing oblique control as movement.

scholarly journals Logophoric Centers as Antecedents of NOC PRO: Evidence from Turkish Subject Infinitives

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Duygu Göksu
Keyword(s):  
Control Structure ◽  
Control Analysis ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
Infinitival Clauses

This paper questions the mechanism behind the control structure observed in subject infinitival clauses in Turkish. After comparing the main points of the proposals in the Movement Theory of Control in Boeckx, Hornstein, and Nunes (2010), pragmatics based Non-Obligatory Control analysis in Landau (2013), and the UPro Approach in McFadden and Sundaresan (2016), I conclude with the claim that these are logophoric center sensitive NOC structures.

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