The FormCopy Theory of Control: Remarks on Landau

In a recent article, Landau presents an articulated review of Chomsky’s FormCopy theory of control, simultaneously defending his own Two-Tiered theory. Given that raising and control are unified under the Copy relation at Transfer, Landau insists on several irreducible differences between the two constructions. The aim of this work is to provide answers to Landau’s remarks, with a view to proving the viability of unification theories. Some evidence favoring unification comes from instances of structural identity between control and raising, from the ambiguity of several matrix predicates between raising and control, and from scope reconstructions, affecting both raising and control. In the end, however, what is at stake is partially different theoretical outlooks. Classical accounts of raising and control privilege a transparent syntax/semantics interface; unification accounts are more concerned with providing a modular model of grammar.