Obligatory Control in Irish and Polish: A Reappraisal

Abstract

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.