A Syntactic Analysis of Raising and Control Verbs in Tiv

The study examines raising and Control verbs in Tiv. Raising involves the movement of an argument from an embedded clause to a matrix clause. Control, by contrast, is a grammatical phenomenon in which an overtly expressed noun phrase in a main clause determines the interpretation of an unexpressed, silent subject (PRO) in a subordinate non-finite clause. The research aims to identify raising and control verbs in Tiv, their argument structures, and their thematic roles in given sentences. The study adopts a qualitative method for data collection and analysis. The data were sourced from selected competent native speakers with formal linguistic knowledge. The researchers collected data through interviews and targeted conversations in their natural setting. The study uses Chomsky's Government and Binding interlocking networks as the theoretical framework. The data are analysed in accordance with the tenets of Government and Binding Modules. The findings showed that raising verbs do not assign thematic roles to their subjects. In contrast, control verbs assign thematic roles and involve an understood subject (PRO) in the embedded clause. The analysis also showed that raising constructions involve moving the noun phrase from the embedded clause to the main clause. In contrast, control involves a relationship between the subject or object and the embedded clause. The study concludes that understanding the distinction between raising and control verbs is essential and contributes to the broader study of Tiv sentence structure.