Cover not available

In:Complement Clauses in Portuguese: Syntax and acquisition
Edited by Ana Lúcia Santos and Anabela Gonçalves
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 17] 2018
► pp. 29–58

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Control of inflected infinitives in European Portuguese

 | Anglia Ruskin University
Published online: 16 August 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.17.02she
This chapter considers the distribution of inflected infinitives in European Portuguese (EP), with a particular emphasis on (exhaustive and partial) obligatory control (OC) contexts. It is shown, by means of large-scale survey data, that all EP speakers accept both inflected and uninflected infinitives in OC contexts but with substantial micro-parametric variation. An analysis is proposed whereby there are two distinct kinds of OC in EP, one derived via movement (Hornstein, 1999) and one resulting from Agree plus failed movement. Points of micro-parametric variation concern: the kind of non-finite clause selected for by various matrix predicates, patterns of obviation, and the precise way in which the thematic feature [D: ] is valued.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The distribution of inflection in control contexts
  • 3.But is this really obligatory control?
  • 4.Challenges for existing theories of control
  • 5.Towards an analysis
    • 5.1The proposal
    • 5.2Covert comitatives
    • 5.3Obviation
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (63)
References
Ambar, M. (1994). ‘Aux-to-Comp’ and lexical restrictions on verb movement. In G. Cinque, J. Koster, J.-Y. Pollock, L. Rizzi, & R. Zanuttini (Eds.), Paths towards universal grammar (pp. 1–24). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Andersson, L-G. (1975). Form and function of subordinate clauses (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Gothenburg University.
Andrews, A. D. (1971). Case agreement of predicate modifiers in Ancient Greek. Linguistic Inquiry, 2, 127–151.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1976). The VP-complement analysis in Modern Icelandic. In J. Maling & A. Zaenen (Eds.), NELS 6 – Proceedings of the 6th meeting of the North Eastern Linguistic Society (pp. 1–21). Amherst, MA: GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, M. C. (1988). Incorporation: A theory of grammatical function changing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1997). Thematic roles and syntactic structure. In L. Haegeman (Ed.), Elements of grammar (pp. 73–137). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barbosa, P. (2009). A case for an Agree-based theory of control. 11th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar Proceedings , 101–123. Available at <[URL]>
Bobaljik, J., & Landau, I. (2009). Icelandic Control is not A-movement: The case from Case. Linguistic Inquiry, 40, 113–132. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boeckx, C., & Hornstein, N. (2004). Movement under Control. Linguistic Inquiry, 35, 431–452. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006). The virtues of Control as movement. Syntax, 9, 118–130. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boeckx, C., Hornstein, N., & Nunes, J. (2010). Control as movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bouchard, D. (1984). On the content of empty categories. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Minimalist inquiries. In R. Martin, D. Michaels, & J. Uriagereka (Eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik (pp. 89–155). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2001). Derivation by phase. In M. Kenstowicz (Ed.), Ken Hale: A life in language (pp. 28–53). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cinque, G. (2006). Restructuring and functional heads. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Constantini, F. (2005). Subjunctive obviation: An interface perspective (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia.
Fiéis, A., & Madeira, A. (2012). Predicados de controlo na diacronia do português. In A. Costa, C. Flores, & N. Alexandre (Eds.), Textos selecionados do XXVII Encontro Nacional da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística (pp. 271–284). Lisboa: Associação Portuguesa de Linguística.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gonçalves, A., Santos, A. L., & Duarte, I. (2014). (Pseudo-)Inflected infinitives and Control as Agree. In K. Lahousse & S. Marzo (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory (pp. 161–180). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grano, T. (2012). Control and restructuring at the syntax-semantics interface (Unpublished PhD dissertation). University of Chicago.
Hornstein, N. (1999). Movement and Control. Linguistic Inquiry, 30, 69–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kempchinsky, P. (2009). What can the subjunctive disjoint reference effect tell us about the subjunctive. Lingua, 119, 1788–1810. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landau, I. (2000). Elements of control: Structure and meaning in infinitival constructions. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). The scale of finiteness and the calculus of Control. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 22, 811–877. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Two routes of control: Evidence from case transmission in Russian. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 26, 877–924. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Control in generative grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Agreement at PF: An argument from partial control. Syntax, 19, 79–109.
Ledgeway, A. (1998). Variation in the Romance infinitive: The case of the Southern Calabrian inflected infinitive. Transactions of the Philological Society Volume, 96(1), 1–61. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luján, M. (1978). Clitic promotion and mood in Spanish verbal complements. Montreal Working Papers in Linguistics, 10, 103–190.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Madeira, A. (1994). On the Portuguese inflected infinitive. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics, 6, 179–203.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martins, A. M. (2000). A minimalist approach to clitic climbing. In J. Costa (Ed.), Portuguese syntax (pp. 169–190). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maurer Júnior, T. H. (1968). O infinito flexionado português. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McFadden, T., & Sundaresan, S. (2014). Finiteness in South Asian languages: An introduction. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 32, 1–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Modesto, M. (2010). What Brazilian Portuguese says about Control: Remarks on Boeckx & Hornstein. Syntax, 13, 78–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Picallo, C. (1985). Opaque domains (Unpublished PhD dissertation). City University of New York.
Pylkkänen, L. (2008). Introducing arguments. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quicoli, A. C. (1996). Inflection and parametric variation: Portuguese vs. Spanish. In R. Freidin (Ed.), Current issues in comparative grammar (pp. 46–80). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rabelo, P. C. (2010). Argumentos nulos no português do Brasil em contextos oracionais finitos e infinitivos (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Universidade de Brasília.
Raposo, E. (1985). Some asymmetries in the Binding Theory in Romance. The Linguistic Review, 5, 75–110.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1987). Case Theory and Infl-to-Comp: The inflected infinitive in European Portuguese. Linguistic Inquiry, 18, 85–109.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1989). Prepositional infinitival constructions in European Portuguese. In O. Jaeggli & K. Safir (Eds.), The null subject parameter (pp. 277–305). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rigau, G. (1995). Temporal infinitive constructions in Catalan and Spanish. Probus, 7, 279–301. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rizzi, L. (1982). Issues in Italian syntax. Dordrecht: Foris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodrigues, C. (2007). Agreement and flotation in partial and inverse partial Control configurations. In W. D. Davies & S. Dubinsky (Eds.), New horizons in the analysis of control and raising (pp. 213–229). Dordrecht: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodrigues, C., & Hornstein, N. (2013). Epicene agreement and inflected infinitives when the data is “under control”: A reply to Modesto (2010). Syntax, 16(3), 292–309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schlenker, P. (2005). The Lazy Frenchman’s approach to the subjunctive (speculations on reference to worlds, presuppositions, and semantic defaults in the analysis of mood). In T. Geerts, I. van Ginneken, & H. Jacobs (Eds.), Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2003 (pp. 269–309). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scida, E. (2004). The inflected infinitive in Romance languages. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sheehan, M. (2012). A new take on partial control: Defective thematic intervention. Cambridge Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 6, 1–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014a). Partial Control in Romance Languages: The covert comitative analysis. In K. Lahousse & S. Marzo (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory (pp. 181–198). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014b). Portuguese, Russian and the theory of control. In H. Huang, E. Poole, & A. Rysling (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd annual meeting of the North East Linguistic Society 43 (NELS 43) (Vol. 2, pp. 115–126). Amherst, MA: GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sigurðsson, H. (2008). The case of PRO. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 26, 403–450. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sitaridou, I. (2002). The synchrony and diachrony of Romance infinitives with nominative subjects (Unpublished PhD dissertation). University of Manchester.
(2007). Romance infinitives with subjects, subjunctive obviation and Control Theory. In L. Eguren & O. Fernández Soriano (Eds.), Coreference, modality, and focus: Studies on the syntax-semantics interface (pp. 191–236). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundaresan, S. (2014). Making sense of silence: Finiteness and the (OC) pro vs. pro distinction. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 32(1), 59–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundaresan, S., & McFadden, T. (2009). Subject distribution in Tamil and other languages: Selection vs. case. Journal of South Asian Linguistics, 2(1), 5–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suñer, M. (1980). Clitic promotion in Spanish revisited. In F. Neussel (Ed.), Contemporary studies in Romance languages (pp. 300–330). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Linguistics Club.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1986). On the referential properties of embedded finite clause subjects. In I. Bordelois, H. Contreras, & K. Zagona (Eds.), Generative studies in Spanish syntax (pp. 183–196). Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Szabolcsi, A. (2009). Overt nominative subjects in infinitival complements cross-linguistically: Data, diagnostics, and preliminary analyses. NYU Working Papers in Linguistics, 2, 1–54.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torrego, E. (1998). Nominative subjects and pro-drop INFL. Syntax, 1(2), 206–219. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsoulas, G. (1996). The nature of the subjunctive and the formal grammar of obviation. In K. Zagona (Ed.), Grammatical theory and Romance languages (pp. 293–306). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Urk, C. (2010). On obligatory control: A movement and PRO approach (Unpublished manuscript). MIT.
Williams, E. (1980). Predication. Linguistic Inquiry, 11, 203–238.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Rastelli, Stefano, Giada Antonicelli, Beatrice Iaria, Pietro Mingardi & Francesca Pagliara
2025. Adult second language acquisition under negligible exposure and no instruction. Journal of Second Language Studies DOI logo
Landau, Idan
2024. Noncanonical Obligatory Control. Language and Linguistics Compass 18:3 DOI logo
Barbosa, Pilar
2021. Alleged obligatorily controlled inflected infinitives. In Non-canonical control in a cross-linguistic perspective [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 270], ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Ledgeway, Adam
2021. The syntactic distribution of raddoppiamento fonosinttatico in Cosentino. In Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2017 [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 355], ► pp. 205 ff. DOI logo
Rivas, Javier & Esther L. Brown
2021. O infinitivo flexionado en galego: unha análise variacionista baseada na lingua oral. Estudos de Lingüística Galega ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Santos, Ana Lúcia
2021. Some thoughts on (the acquisition of) control. In L1 Acquisition and L2 Learning [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 65], ► pp. 83 ff. DOI logo
Sheehan, Michelle, Jeffrey Blokzijl & M. Carmen Parafita Couto
2020. Inflected infinitives in Galician. In Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 16 [Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory, 16], ► pp. 259 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue