Control (linguistics)
construction where the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by some expression in context
In linguistics, control is a construction in which the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by some expression in context. Stereotypical instances of control involve verbs. A superordinate verb "controls" the arguments of a subordinate, nonfinite verb. Control was intensively studied in the government and binding framework in the 1980s, and much of the terminology from that era is still used today. In the days of Transformational Grammar, control phenomena were discussed in terms of Equi-NP deletion. Control is often analyzed in terms of a null pronoun called PRO. Control is also related to raising, although there are important differences between control and raising.
Examples
Standard instances of (obligatory) control are present in the following sentences:
Susan promised to help us. - Subject control with the obligatory control predicate promise
Fred stopped laughing. - Subject control with the obligatory control predicate stop
We tried to leave. - Subject control with the obligatory control predicate try
Sue asked Bill to stop.
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This entry incorporates text from “Control (linguistics)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.