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In:The Ziggurat of Grammar: In honor of Ur Shlonsky
Edited by Lena Baunaz, Giuliano Bocci and Andrew Nevins
[Language Faculty and Beyond 20] 2025
► pp. 80–100

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Chapter 5
Empty categories as Copy and No Transfer

Non-obligatory control and partial null subjects

ORCiD logo with link | Università di Firenze
ORCiD logo with link | University of Patras
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 13 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.20.05man
Abstract
We assume the Copy theory of control, under which obligatory control depends on a Copy relation between the controller and the controllee, followed by deletion of the latter (‘PRO’). We further assume that pro subjects undergo deletion (No Transfer) under Agree with rich I. We are interested in the compatibility of this framework with some instances of null subjects, whose status is intermediate between standard PRO and pro. We first consider non-obligatory control and partial control, adopting an account in terms of logophoric binding via the phase edge. We then propose that the finite null subjects of Brazilian Portuguese instantiate finite control, but of the non-obligatory, logophoric kind.
Article outline
  • 1.Trace, PRO and pro
    • 1.1Copy and deletion
    • 1.2A reformulation of the CTC
  • 2.Non-obligatory control
    • 2.1Arb NOC
    • 2.2Logophoric NOC
    • 2.3Partial and split control
  • 3.Partial null subjects
    • 3.1Partial null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese
    • 3.2Some formalization
  • 4.Conclusions and further prospects
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (50)
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