Obligatory control and local reflexives
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Norbert Hornstein
Abstract
Why do locally bound reflexives (LBR) and obligatorily controlled PRO (OC-PRO) only have de se interpretations in the scope of verbs like ‘expect’ and ‘believe’, while other pronouns can but need not support such interpretations? We argue that occurrences of LBR and OC-PRO result from copying, which is distinct from co-indexing, and that copying is construed as a special case of co-indexing. Often, this distinction is truth-conditionally irrelevant. Even when a psychological verb lies between coindexed expressions, the resulting sentence can be “made true” in many ways, including de se ways. But if the matrix and embedded subjects are copies, this imposes a further constraint that only de se interpretations meet, given available distinctions in thought. On this view, which posits no special pronouns that conspire with an antecedent to create distinctively first-personal meanings, de se interpretations are accommodated with spare theoretical apparatus in syntax and semantics.
Abstract
Why do locally bound reflexives (LBR) and obligatorily controlled PRO (OC-PRO) only have de se interpretations in the scope of verbs like ‘expect’ and ‘believe’, while other pronouns can but need not support such interpretations? We argue that occurrences of LBR and OC-PRO result from copying, which is distinct from co-indexing, and that copying is construed as a special case of co-indexing. Often, this distinction is truth-conditionally irrelevant. Even when a psychological verb lies between coindexed expressions, the resulting sentence can be “made true” in many ways, including de se ways. But if the matrix and embedded subjects are copies, this imposes a further constraint that only de se interpretations meet, given available distinctions in thought. On this view, which posits no special pronouns that conspire with an antecedent to create distinctively first-personal meanings, de se interpretations are accommodated with spare theoretical apparatus in syntax and semantics.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Control as movement 1
-
Part I. Expanding the movement analysis of control
- Movement Theory of Control and CP-infinitives in Polish 45
- Obligatory control and local reflexives 67
- No objections to Backward Control 89
- Possessor raising through thematic positions 119
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Part II. Unexplored control phenomena
- Clitic climbing in archaic Chinese 149
- Framing the syntax of control in Japanese (and English) 183
- Split control and the Principle of Minimal Distance 211
- Towards a typology of control in DP 245
-
Part III. Beyond control
- The argument structure of evaluative adjectives 269
- Object control in Korean 299
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Control as movement 1
-
Part I. Expanding the movement analysis of control
- Movement Theory of Control and CP-infinitives in Polish 45
- Obligatory control and local reflexives 67
- No objections to Backward Control 89
- Possessor raising through thematic positions 119
-
Part II. Unexplored control phenomena
- Clitic climbing in archaic Chinese 149
- Framing the syntax of control in Japanese (and English) 183
- Split control and the Principle of Minimal Distance 211
- Towards a typology of control in DP 245
-
Part III. Beyond control
- The argument structure of evaluative adjectives 269
- Object control in Korean 299
