Movement Theory Of Control Research Articles

Processing dissociations between raising and control in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract Generative approaches to syntactic control have traditionally viewed it as a distinct component of the grammar, one that governs the interpretation and distribution of the empty category (EC) PRO. However, the Movement Theory of Control (MTC) proposes that control should instead be conceived of as a form of raising, with both sentence types involving the EC DP/NP Trace. In addition to theoretical arguments, some behavioral research on antecedent reactivation has demonstrated that different ECs reactivate their antecedents to different degrees and at different points in the time course of comprehension. In this study, we used a cross-modal repetition priming paradigm to examine antecedent reactivation in Brazilian Portuguese. We found significantly greater activation at the gap position in raising sentences and in those with overt pronouns as compared to (exhaustive) control sentences, consistent with the standard account of raising and the traditional view of control as involving a distinct EC. Additionally, we found some evidence for a differentiation between exhaustive and partial control structures. Overall, our results suggest that 1) similar linguistic mechanisms are employed in the processing of sentences that involve overt pronouns and DP/NP traces, and 2) different mechanisms are employed in the processing of raising and control structures, a finding we view as inconsistent with the MTC.

The rise of lexical subjects in English covert infinitives

This paper explores subjectness of the so-called covert infinitives in English. Control and raising-to-subject infinitives are known to have a covert or null subject; hence they are known as the covert infinitives. Recently, there is a debate whether these infinitives are still subject-less or have lexical subjects like raising-to-object infinitives. Therefore, the paper seeks to review the rise of lexical subject of the commonly known covert infinitives. The paper is premised within the Radical Minimalism Theory (RM). The results reveal that from the Government and Binding theory to Orthodox Minimalist Program perspectives, the subjectness of the control and raising-to-subject infinitives are PRO and trace-copy (t), respectively. However, starting from the Movement Theory of Control (MTC) to the RM, a shift has been recognised due to elimination of PRO, as well as adoption of recursion and displacement. To show that the subjects for both control and raising-to-subject infinitives are derived in a similar fashion, the present paper argues that they have similar subject, which is t. Within the MTC and RM, the English covert infinitives now have a lexical subject as one determinative phrase (DP) bears multiple roles.

The Position of the Subjectness of the Subject-less Conventional Infinitives

The English conventional infinitive clauses have either overt or covert subjects. Previous analyses mainly used the PRO Theorem and Null-Case Approaches to show the distribution of the subjectness of the subject-less conventional infinitives. However, this paper investigated the position of the subjectness of the subject-less conventional infinitive clauses using the Minimalist Program’s Movement Theory of Control and the External Token Merge. In this qualitative paper, data was extracted from the previous English Ph.D. research studies conducted by English native and non-native speakers, and analysed using successive approximation analytic tools. The results demonstrate that the control and SSR-infinitives are generated in a similar fashion, which is why they share the type of subjectness. The base-generated PRO, which is claimed to be the subjectness of the control infinitives, is further revealed that is derived from movement. Therefore, for uniformity purposes, the subjectness of the control and SSR-infinitives is found to be a trace-copy (t) or a lexical subject positioned at the [spec-IP], [spec-TP], and [spec-vP]. The analysis suggested connectivity between the structure of the subject-less conventional infinitive clause and the position of the subjectness of the subject-less conventional infinitives as the structure of the subject-less conventional infinitives informs the distribution.

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

"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 "

Not all obligatory control is movement

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.

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

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.

A movement theory of adjunct control

It has recently been argued (Landau 2017) that control in temporal and rationale adjuncts may be either syntactic ‘Obligatory Control’ (OC) or non-syntactic ‘Non-Obligatory Control’ (NOC), in contrast to previous assumptions that adjunct control is strictly OC. Here I demonstrate that this OC/NOC duality does not extend to all adjuncts. I outline claims that Landau would have to make in order to accommodate the wider distribution of OC and NOC in adjuncts, but argue that the account still struggles. I offer an alternative within the Movement Theory of Control.

Locality, control, and non-adjoined islands

The goal of this paper is twofold: empirically, it is shown that obligatory control (OC) into islands is not restricted to control into certain adjuncts, but can also involve non-adjoined islands. This poses a serious problem for the movement theory of control (MTC), whose analysis of OC into adjuncts crucially relies on the fact that adjunction is involved.Second, the paper seeks to explore to what extent control theory is compatible with phase theory based on a strict version of the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC). In order to reconcile these locality considerations with the observed control patterns in the context of islands, the paper assumes a moderately local relationship between controller and controllee. The basic idea of the proposed theory is that the controllee starts out as an empty argument which needs to be referentially identified under Agree. To this end, it moves from phase edge to phase edge (in accordance with the PIC) until it can be licensed by the controller.In contrast to the MTC, the target position of controllee movement is not the controller position itself; thus, control into islands (including non-adjoined islands) can be derived more easily, since the control relation can already be established when the controller is at the edge of the highest phase inside the island and the controller is merged in the next higher phase. Hence, the theory is compatible with phase theory and can in particular account for the observed control patterns involving adjoined and non-adjoined islands.

The theory and syntactic representation of control structures: An analysis from Amharic

This paper conducts a detailed syntactic analysis of control structures in Amharic and sheds light on the current approaches to their syntactic representation and the operation thereof. Amharic control structures consist of the following components: (i) they are marked by the specific clause marker (CM) lɨ-; (ii) the control clause always contains an imperfective verb; (iii) the control predicate is fully inflected by phi-features which are coindexical to the matrix subject; (iv) the subject of the control clause is a PRO; and (v) only exhaustive subject control is licensed. Amharic control poses a challenge to Landau (2014)’s proposal that the control possibility stems from particular combinations of tense and agreement features of the control predicate. Instead we claim that Amharic data fit better in the analysis of future infinitives (Wurmbrand 2014) and prospective aspect (Kratzer 2011; Matthewson 2012). In addition, the PRO-analysis of Amharic control also entails that the Movement Theory of Control (MTC) is disfavored.

Icelandic Object Extraposition Is Still a Problem for the Movement Theory of Control: A Reply to Drummond and Hornstein

In Wood 2012 , I argued that object extraposition of infinitive clauses in Icelandic reveals a problem for the movement theory of control (MTC). Object extraposition involves a pronoun that, when present, prevents any movement out of the extraposed clause, but allows the control dependency. Drummond and Hornstein (2014) claim that the facts discussed in Wood 2012 are compatible with the MTC. In this reply, I show that their response is based on a misunderstanding of how Icelandic object extraposition works and that the problem observed in Wood 2012 remains. I also present a novel argument against the MTC by showing that Drummond and Hornstein’s account of ‘promise’ - type verbs cannot be extended to Icelandic.

Deletion of Reflexive Clitics with the Verb Custar in European Portuguese: An MTC Account

<p class="p1">The impersonal verb <em>custar </em>(lit. ‘cost’) in European Portuguese selects for a dative experiencer argument and an infinitival clause, which may be preceded by the preposition <em>a</em>. Interestingly, a reflexive clitic co-referential with the experiencer argument can be deleted (under conditions to be specified) if it is within the prepositional infinitival complement, but not within its prepositionless counterpart. We argue that the presence of the preposition <em>a </em>preceding the infinitival complement of <em>custar </em>correlates with obligatory control and show how deletion of reflexive clitics within the prepositional infinitivals can be captured under the movement theory of control (<em>MTC</em>; see e.g. Hornstein 1991, 2001; Boeckx, Hornstein and Nunes 2010). More specifically, we show that if the infinitival subject is a deleted copy left by the “controller”, this copy can trigger deletion of the reflexive clitic as a way to satisfy a superficial ban on morphologically identical clitics in a local domain.

Two Types of Object Control in Saisiyat: A Movement-based Approach

This paper analyzes the syntactic characteristics and the derivation of object control construction (OC) in Saisiyat. Saisiyat possesses two types of object control: in the canonical case, the controller occupies a structurally higher position than the controllee, while in the non-canonical case, the controller occupies a structurally lower position. We argue that the syntactic behaviours in Saisiyat, including the selection of voice, case-marking mechanisms, and subject-verb agreement, are closely related to hierarchical structures. The structure of the embedded clause in Saisiyat OC is a defective TP. This ‘weak' TP cannot normally value case and govern argument. Also, it exhibits the [-Tense] feature. These two types of OC exhibit the characteristics of split-ergativity: Canonical object control strictly employs the Accusative-pattern, while non-canonical object control strictly utilizes the Ergative-pattern. We assert that the non-canonical structure employs an additional syntactic projection of Applicative Phrase in its embedded clause, which makes it syntactically different from the canonical counterpart. Based on Potsdam's[27] research on Malagasy, we propose that two types of OC are formed through argument movement and deletion in the fashion of Hornstein's[14] Movement Theory of Control and Nunes' [23] chain reduction principle. These configurations can account for why in Saisiyat the shared argument of OC occupies dual theta roles. However, unlike Potsdam's argument, we contend that the inadequacy of the base-generated approach is attributed to the theoretical nature of PRO/pro, which is incompatible with OC, rather than the effect of locality. Finally, in order to comply with the 'Last resort' and the 'Greed principle' under the Minimalist Program, we further contend that the copy movement is triggered by the checking of both formal features (e.g., phi-feature and EPP) and uninterpreted features (e.g., case and tense).

Agreement processing in control and raising structures. Evidence from sentence production in Spanish

We report the results of a study investigating the production of gender and number agreement between head noun and predicative adjective in Spanish using an elicited-error paradigm with preambles that included either Control or Raising verbs. In order to identify if the subjects of the infinitivals selected by these two verb types are syntactically identical (Movement Theory of Control) or distinct (Theory of Control by PRO or anaphora), the following features in the preambles were manipulated: gender of head noun (Feminine–Masculine), gender and number (Singular–Plural) of local noun, and type of verb (Control–Raising). We analyzed the agreement errors and omissions patterns, as well as response times in the production of the target adjective. The error rate was not different across the two syntactic conditions, but the two verb classes were associated with significantly different number of target omissions. Furthermore, omissions in the Control condition were specifically associated with feminine agreeing adjectives. This pattern was also reflected in the adjective production latency. Taken together, these results undermine the Control by Movement explanation and argue for a Control by PRO analysis of Control constructions.

Some Purported Problems for the Movement Theory of Control

Ndayiragije (2012) and Wood (2012) present arguments against the movement theory of control (MTC) based on data from Kirundi and Icelandic, respectively. We show that these data are easily accounted for by current formulations of the MTC.

Control Shift, the Minimal Distance Principle, and the Binarity Principle

The movement theory of control (MTC) predicts that the closest argument is the controller: that is, the MTC cannot be maintained unless the Minimal Distance Principle (MDP) is correct. Accordingly, one of the most important issues in control is whether the MDP is empirically supported. Control shift is a well-known phenomenon that appears to run counter to the MDP. This paper provides supporting evidence in favor of the MDP, showing that control shift follows from the independently motivated principles--the Binarity Principle and the Principle of Co-arguments.

Property of the Jussive Head in Korean Jussives

This paper aims to examine (i) if Agree for the identification of jussive subjects in Pak, Portner and Zanuttini (2008a,b) (PPZ) and Zanuttini, Pak, and Portner (2011) (ZPP) is properly formulated (ii) how the subjects of jussive complements in Korean are identified. It is argued that the precise formulation of Agree has not been applied to the analysis of jussives in PPZ, but the agreement relation in ZPP is better formulated fitting the original Agree operation. It is proposed that whereas root jussives may have the Jussive head with person features, embedded jussives may have the Jussive head without person features as the T head does not have phi-features in non-finite clauses. The embedded Jussive head with the fixed person feature value leads PPZ to assume the reference shifting mechanism by which the process to identify the subjects of jussive complements is complicated: valuation by Agree and then reference shifting. It is argued that without person features on the embedded Jussive head, the movement theory of control (MTC) is able to identify the subjects of jussive complements without recourse to the reference shifting mechanism.

Against the Movement Theory of Control: Another Argument from Icelandic

Against the Movement Theory of Control: Another Argument from Icelandic

Finite control: Where movement goes wrong in Brazilian Portuguese

The aim of the present article is to deconstruct a specific line of argumentation used by Boeckx, Hornstein, and Nunes (2010) to support what is usually called the movement theory of control. Such line of argumentation involves the assumption that null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese are “controlled” in the sense that they are derived by A-movement out of finite clauses. It is shown that the postulation of finite control in Brazilian Portuguese requires assumptions that are not empirically supported. An alternative analysis is discussed and argued to be theoretically and empirically superior to movement analyses. That alternative analysis takes null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese to be elided topics.

A Movement Analysis of Control Construction in Korean

This paper aims to unify obligatory control constructions in Korean as A-movement. The so-called infinitival control and finite control are uniformly analyzed under A-movement. It is observed that finite control complements in Hebrew 3rd person subjunctives and Brazilian Portuguese are transparent with regard to A-movement since complement clauses are deficient in one of the two feature sets, [T±, phi±] (Boeckx, Hornstein and Nunes 2010). Likewise, it is claimed that not only infinitival but finite control complements in Korean are transparent to A-movement due to the deficiency of the feature sets. The unusual transparency of Korean raising complements with free alternation of tense markers is also claimed to be uniformly accounted for under A-movement based on the proposed feature combination. Consequently, this paper argues, following the movement theory of control, that (i) the control module disappears, simplifying the grammar, (ii) the empty category in control complement is identified as a copy left after movement, and (iii) the interpretation of the empty category is naturally obtained as a result of movement.

A note on Wh-islands and Finite Control in Brazilian Portuguese

This paper discusses Ferreira’s (2000, 2004, 2009) claim that selective intervention effects in wh-island constructions in Brazilian Portuguese provide evidence for analyzing its referential null subjects as traces of A-movement. Based on the fact that intervening traces of wh-phrases in [Spec,CP] never prevent A-movement of an embedded subject out of an embedded declarative clause, I argue that a filled [Spec,CP] does not block A-movement either. Reinterpreting Ferreira’s data, I propose instead that A-movement is blocked if there is an intervening [Spec,TopP].KEYWORDS: finite control, hyper-raising, wh-islands, movement theory of control, Brazilian Portuguese.