Questionnaire for Control Verbs
Description
This questionnaire focuses on control structures that are instantiated by predicates that take a
state of affairs (SOA) argument. Noonan (1985) has called these predicates 'complement-taking
predicates'. The questionnaire uses the notion of SOAA-taking predicates
(SOAA = state of affairs argument). Prototypically, complement control is instantiated by
certain classes of verbs; however, adjectives (be eager to) and nouns (e.g. nominalizations
such as promise) may function as control predicates as well. 'Control' refers to the pattern
of argument identification between an argument of the SOAA-taking predicate and an argument
of the SOAA-head. In the literature the notion of 'equi deletion' or 'equi-NP deletion' has
been used (following Rosenbaum 1967), which refers to structures in which an overt argument
of the matrix predicate is identified with a covert argument of the embedded predicate.
This questionnaire aims at a cross-linguistic application of the notion of control and thus
uses a semantic definition of complement control. It extends the notion of control to other
patterns of referential dependency between arguments of a SOAA-taking predicate and of the
embedded predicate. The questionnaire is accompanied by a detailed introduction and explanation.
The questionnaire
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Developed by
Barbara Stiebels
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