Partial Control is Trickier Than We Thought

Abstract

This paper discusses partial control, a notoriously intricate phenomenon. Brought to the linguistic limelight only recently (cf. Landau 2000), its bizarre nature renders it a real challenge to any theory of control. I contribute to the Agree vs. Move debate on control by making an empirical claim concerning cases of what I call Parasitic Partial Control Effects which are extremely problematic to Landau's Agree Theory of Control. To account for these facts, I propose a solution framed within the theory of control based on Move. Refining insights in Rodrigues (2007), I suggest that the licensing of the PC effect depends on the presence of the projection of wollP dominated by TP in the structure of the infinitive and the sideward movement of the DP controller from within the adjunct to the matrix. Thus, Landau's claim that partial control is licensed only in complements must be loosened (if not dropped).

Noncanonical Obligatory Control

“…155–172). The recent decade, however, has seen a flourishing of focused interest in PC on its own, producing much experimental as well as crosslinguistic work (Authier & Reed, 2018, 2020; Grano, 2017; Landau, 2016a, 2016b; Pearson, 2016; Pitteroff & Sheehan, 2018; Pitteroff et al., 2017; Sheehan, 2012, 2014, 2018a, 2018b; Snarska, 2019, 2021; White & Grano, 2014).…”

“…78, then proposed in Boeckx et al. (2010b, p. 185), and later adopted by various authors (Pitteroff & Sheehan, 2018; Pitteroff et al., 2017; Sheehan, 2012, 2014, 2018a; Snarska, 2019; Słodowicz, 2008). The CCA is based on the observation that many collective predicates can appear either with a plural subject (29a), or with a singular subject and a comitative PP in the predicate (29b,c).…”

“…Sheehan (2014) observed that the true generalization is about the possibility of a comitative PP: The reflexive se disputer ‘argue’ patterns with the non‐reflexive correspondre ‘correspond’ in taking a comitative PP and allowing PC, while the reflexive se recontrer ‘meet’ is non‐comitative and rejects PC. Polish is like French in allowing PC only with symmetric reciprocal verbs (Snarska, 2019, 2021). Snarska claims that even PC in English is so restricted, but this is false.…”