Adjuncts in control theory: a scope-based approach

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical approach to adjunct control in German and English participial clauses. Based on a corpus study of 1600 non-finite adverbial clauses with a participial head in German and English, we argue that there is a clear correlation between the syntactico-semantic scope of a participial adjunct and its control status: while adjuncts modifying the event generally display obligatory control (OC), adjuncts modifying the matrix proposition or utterance occur with non-obligatory control (NOC). To capture this theoretically, we analyse OC as an upward Agree relation between a matrix argument and PRO, as also suggested in other recent approaches to control. Since this Agree relation can only be established without further ado when the adjunct is in the c-command domain of a matrix argument, OC is restricted to adjuncts in the verbal domain. For adjuncts above T, an NOC relation is established, which is licensed by a salient perceiver or referent that is syntactically encoded in the C-domain. Thus, we argue that the syntactic height of an adjunct is crucial for its control status and that OC and NOC are generally in complementary distribution in adjuncts. However, in contrast to previous work, we suggest that the control relation is established phase-wise, which leaves room for a certain amount of flexibility if the first potential goal is not a suitable controller.