Jaume Solà i Pujols - Departament de Filologia Catalana ...

infinitives is due to a violation of the 3rd principle of BT, but the offending binder will not be the
controller itself, but PRO. Let us assume that PRO is always present in control structures (and in
cases of PROArb as well). We will later elaborate on the nature of PRO. Let's take it for granted
that it is necessarily present in both NSL and non-NSL control structures.
How can this be accommodated within the above assumption that (in the unmarked case)
NSLs have a controlled AGR o , while non-null subject languages have a controlled Spec of
AGR? At first glance, this looks at variance with the assumption that both types of languages
involve a controlled PRO, which is in Spec of AGR. In order to solve this apparent contradiction,
let us make the following assumptions:
- PRO is a necessary element of control (and PROArb) structures: only PRO can be
controlled (perhaps PROArb is controlled by an empty Argument or operator).
- PRO cannot be governed for the familiar reasons (we adhere to the PRO theorem).
- principle 0 requires (or, being a markedness principle, favors) AGR o as the controllee in
NSLs. If this option is to be fulfilled, the only means it can be is that PRO adjoins to AGR o . Let
us assume that PRO is a maximal projection, but that only its head (call it PRO o ) has real content,
so that adjunction of this head to AGR o actually implies placing the controller inside AGR o .
Under this view, NSLs would have, in the unmarked Case PRO o adjoined to AGR o , thus
fulfilling 0. Now consider the following infinitival structure:
(31) [ AGRP [ PRO PRO o ] [ AGR' AGR o ] ]
Suppose PRO is to adjoin to AGR o . We have assumed that a head does not govern its
specifier. Therefore, movement of PRO o into AGR o would violate the ECP. Therefore, with such
a structure, PRO o could never adjoin to AGR o in order to make AGR o to controllee element.
Suppose, however, that above AGRP, but below CP, there is an intermediate functional
category (XP) (which we will try to characterize later) to which AGR o can move, giving:
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