Movement and Control

TLDR

Control is distinguished from raising, with raising arising from movement operations and control from construal linking a PRO to an antecedent. The article argues that obligatory control structures are formed by movement. Minimalism eliminates D‑Structure and the θ‑Criterion, treating θ‑roles as featurelike to license movement, thereby enabling the proposed movement‑based control.

Abstract

Since the earliest days of generative grammar, control has been distinguished from raising: the latter the product of movement operations, the former the result of construal processes relating a PRO to an antecedent. This article argues that obligatory control structures are also formed by movement. Minimalism makes this approach viable by removing D-Structure as a grammatical level. Implementing the suggestion, however, requires eliminating the last vestiges of D-Structure still extant in Chomsky's (1995) version of the Minimalist Program. In particular, it requires dispensing with the θ-Criterion and adopting the view that θ-roles are featurelike in being able to license movement.