Hostname: page-component-5f7774ffb-p5w8z Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-02-20T05:38:48.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Malagasy backward object control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Eric Potsdam
Eric Potsdam*
Affiliation:
University of Florida
*
Linguistics Program, P.O. Box 115454, University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 [potsdam@ufl.edu]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Backward control is an obligatory interpretational dependency between an overt controller and a nonovert controllee in which the controllee is structurally superior to the controller: Meg persuaded Δi[Roni to give up]. It contrasts with ordinary forward control, in which the controller is structurally higher: Meg persuaded Roni [Δi to give up]. Although backward control has been previously documented (Polinsky & Potsdam 2002a), clear cases are rare. This article presents an alternation between forward and backward object control in the Austronesian language Malagasy and argues for the backward-control structure. Backward control is thus a reality and needs to be incorporated into any comprehensive theory of control. The article argues against an analysis of backward control that identifies the controllee as the null pronominal pro.

Keywords

Malagasycontrolbackward controlobject controlpro

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 754 - 784
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Al-Balushi, Rashid. 2008. Control in Omani Arabic. Toronto: University of Toronto, ms.Google Scholar
Alboiu, Gabriela. 2007. Moving forward with Romanian backward control and raising. In Davies & Dubinsky 2007b, 187–213.Google Scholar
Alexiadou, Artemis, Anagnostopoulou, Elena, Iordachioaia, Gianina; and Marchis, Mihaela. 2009. A stronger argument for backward control. North East Linguistic Society 39, to appear.Google Scholar
Boeckx, Cedric, and Hornstein, Norbert. 2003. Reply to ‘Control is not movement’. Linguistic Inquiry 34. 269–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boeckx, Cedric, and Hornstein, Norbert. 2004. Movement under control. Linguistic Inquiry 35. 431–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bresnan, Joan. 1982. Control and complementation. Linguistic Inquiry 13. 343–434.Google Scholar
Burgess, Clifford S., Dziwirek, Kartarzyna; and Gerdts, Donna (eds.) 1995. Grammatical relations: Theoretical approaches to empirical questions. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Choe, Hyon Sook. 2006. On (backward) object control in Korean. Harvard Studies in Korean Linguistics 11. 373–86.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1993. A minimalist program for linguistic theory. The view from Building 20, ed. by Hale, Kenneth and Keyser, Samuel J., 1–52. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1995. The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam, and Lasnik, Howard. 1993. The theory of principles and parameters. Syntax: An international handbook of contemporary research, ed. by Jacobs, Joachim, Stechow, Arnim von, Sternefeld, Wolfgang, and Vennemann, Theo, 506–69. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Chung, Sandra. 1998. The design of agreement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Chung, Sandra. 2004. Restructuring and verb-initial order in Chamorro. Syntax 7. 199–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, Peter. 1987. Null objects in universal grammar. Linguistic Inquiry 18. 597–612.Google Scholar
Cormack, Annabel, and Smith, Neil. 2004. Backward control in Korean and Japanese. University College London Working Papers in Linguistics 16. 57–83.Google Scholar
Culicover, Peter W., and Jackendoff, Ray. 2001. Control is not movement. Linguistic Inquiry 32. 493–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, William D., and Dubinsky, Stanley. 2004. The grammar of raising and control: A course in syntactic argumentation. Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, William D., and Dubinsky, Stanley. 2006. The place, range, and taxonomy of control and raising. Syntax 9. 111–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, William D., and Dubinsky, Stanley. 2007a. Looking out over the horizon. In Davies & Dubinsky 2007b, 3–12.Google Scholar
Davies, William D., and Dubinsky, Stanley (eds.) 2007b. New horizons in the analysis of control and raising. Dordrecht: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engh, Jan, and Kristoffersen, Kristian Emil. 1997. Control: A bibliography. Online: http://folk.uio.no/janengh/KONTROLL/. Accessed August 8, 2009.Google Scholar
Farrell, Patrick. 1995. Backward control in Brazilian Portuguese. Proceedings of the eleventh Eastern States Conference on Linguistics (ESCOL), ed. by Fuller, Janet M., Han, Ho, and Parkinson, David, 116–27. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics.Google Scholar
Fujii, Tomohiro. 2004. Binding and scope in Japanese backward control. Paper presented at the Workshop on Control Verbs in Cross-Linguistic Perspective, ZAS Berlin.Google Scholar
Fujii, Tomohiro. 2006. Some theoretical issues in Japanese control. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, College Park dissertation.Google Scholar
Gerassimova, Veronica, and Sells, Peter. 2007. Long-distance dependencies in Tagalog: The case for raising. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 26. 190–98.Google Scholar
Guilfoyle, Eithne, Hung, Henrietta; and Travis, Lisa. 1992. Spec of IP and Spec of VP: Two subjects in Austronesian languages. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 10. 375–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddad, Youssef. 2007. Copy control in Telugu and Assamese. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida dissertation.Google Scholar
Haddad, Youssef. 2009. Copy control in Telugu. Journal of Linguistics 45. 69–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddad, Youssef, and Potsdam, Eric. 2010. Linearizing the control relation: A typology. Principles of linearization, ed. by Biberauer, Theresa and Roberts, Ian. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, to appear.Google Scholar
Harada, S.-I. 1973. Counter equi-NP-deletion. University of Tokyo Research Institute of Logopedics and Phoniatrics Annual Bulletin 7. 113–47.Google Scholar
Heim, Irene, and Kratzer, Angelika. 1998. Semantics in generative grammar. Maiden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Heycock, Caroline, and Lee, Young-suk. 1990. Subjects and predication in Korean and Japanese. J apanese/Korean linguistics I, ed. by Hoji, Hajime, 239–53. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Hornstein, Norbert. 1999. Movement and control. Linguistic Inquiry 30. 69–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornstein, Norbert. 2003. On control. Minimalist syntax, ed. by Hendrick, Randall, 6–81. Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurst, Peter. 2003. Syntactic representations of the Malagasy reciprocal construction. Melbourne: University of Melbourne postgraduate thesis.Google Scholar
Hurst, Peter. 2006. The syntax of the Malagasy reciprocal construction: An LFG account. Proceedings of the LFG '06 Conference, ed. by Butt, Miriam and King, Tracy Holloway, 256–74. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. Online: http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/LFG/11/lfg06hurst.pdf.Google Scholar
Hyams, Nina, Ntelitheos, Dimitrios; and Manorohanta, Cécile. 2006. Acquisition of the Malagasy voicing system: Implications for the adult grammar. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 24. 1049–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray, and Culicover, Peter. 2003. The semantic basis of control in English. Language 79. 517–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, Edward L. 1976. Remarkable subjects in Malagasy. Subject and topic, ed. by Li, Charles N., 247–301. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Keenan, Edward L. 1995. Predicate-argument structure in Malagasy. In Burgess, et al., 171–216.Google Scholar
Keenan, Edward L., and Comrie, Bernard. 1977. NP accessibility and universal grammar. Linguistic Inquiry 8. 63–100.Google Scholar
Keenan, Edward L., and Polinsky, Maria. 1998. Malagasy morphology. Handbook of morphology, ed. by Zwicky, Arnold and Spencer, Andrew, 812–76. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Keenan, Edward L., and Razafimamonjy, Jean-Paulin. 2004. Reciprocals in Malagasy. Oceanic Linguistics 43. 177–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Sun-Hee. 1993. On the distribution and interpretation of pro. Harvard Studies in Korean Linguistics 5. 509–22.Google Scholar
Kuroda, Sige-Yuki. 1965. Generative grammatical studies in the Japanese language. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.Google Scholar
Kuroda, Sige-Yuki. 1978. Case marking, canonical sentence patterns, and counter equi in Japanese (a preliminary survey). Problems in Japanese syntax and semantics, ed. by Hinds, John and Howard, Irwin, 30–51. Tokyo: Kaitakusha.Google Scholar
Kuroda, Sige-Yuki. 1999. Tokoro-setsu [Tokoro-clauses]. Kotoba no kaku to shuuen [The core and periphery of language], ed. by Kuroda, Sige-Yuki and Nakamura, Makoto, 105–62. Tokyo: Kurosio.Google Scholar
Landau, Idan. 2003. Movement out of control. Linguistic Inquiry 34. 471–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, Paul. 1995. On grammatical relations in Malagasy control structures. In Burgess, et al., 271–90.Google Scholar
Law, Paul. 2007. The syntactic structure of the cleft construction in Malagasy. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 25. 765–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLaughlin, Dawn. 1995. WH-movement in Malagasy: An extraction asymmetry. Theoretical approaches to African linguistics, ed. by Akinlabi, Akinbiyi, 117–28. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Monahan, Philip. 2003. Backward object control in Korean. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 22. 356–69.Google Scholar
Narita, Hiroki. 2007. Counter-equi ‘NP‘-trace pronunciation. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 55. 185–96.Google Scholar
Nunes, Jairo. 2004. Linearization of chains and sideward movement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, Ileana. 1996. The Malagasy genitive. The structure of Malagasy, vol. 1 (UCLA occasional papers in linguistics 17), ed. by Pearson, Matthew and Paul, Ileana, 76–91. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Paul, Ileana. 2000. Malagasy clause structure. Montreal: McGill University dissertation.Google Scholar
Paul, Ileana. 2001. Concealed pseudo-clefts. Lingua 111. 707–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, Ileana. 2002. On extraction asymmetries. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics (Proceedings of the 8th Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association) 44. 211–24.Google Scholar
Paul, Ileana, and Ranaivoson, Jeannot F. 1998. Complex verbal constructions in Malagasy. The structure of Malagasy, vol. 2 (UCLA occasional papers in linguistics 20), ed. by Paul, Ileana, 111–25. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Paul, Ileana, and Travis, Lisa. 2003. Ergativity in Austronesian languages: What it can do, what it can't, but not why. Paper presented at the 10th Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association, University of Hawaii, Manoa.Google Scholar
Pearson, Matthew. 1998. Rightward objects and the syntax of adverbs. The structure of Malagasy, vol. 2 (UCLA occasional papers in linguistics 20), ed. by Paul, Ileana, 34–49. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Pearson, Matthew. 2000. Two types of VO languages. The derivation of VO and OV, ed. by Svenonius, Peter, 327–63. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Pearson, Matthew. 2001. The clause structure of Malagasy: A minimalist approach. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles dissertation.Google Scholar
Pearson, Matthew. 2005. The Malagasy subject/topic as an A' element. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 23. 381–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pensalfini, Rob. 1995. Malagasy phrase structure and the LCA. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics (Papers on minimalist syntax) 27. 209–22.Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria, Monahan, Philip J.; and Kwon, Nayoung. 2007. Object control in Korean: How many constructions? Language Research 43. 1–33.Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria, and Potsdam, Eric. 2002a. Backward control. Linguistic Inquiry 33. 245–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polinsky, Maria, and Potsdam, Eric. 2002b. Backward control: Evidence from Malagasy. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics (Proceedings of the 8th Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association) 44. 257–72.Google Scholar
Potsdam, Eric. 2006a. Backward object control in Malagasy: Against an empty category analysis. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 25. 328–36.Google Scholar
Potsdam, Eric. 2006b. The cleft structure of Malagasy WH-questions. Clause structure and adjuncts in Austronesian languages, ed. by Gaertner, Hans-Martin, Law, Paul, and Sabel, Joachim, 195–232. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potsdam, Eric. 2006c. More concealed pseudoclefts in Malagasy and the clausal typing hypothesis. Lingua 116. 2154–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potsdam, Eric, and Polinsky, Maria. 2007. Missing complement clause subjects in Malagasy. Oceanic Linguistics 46. 277–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rackowski, Andrea, and Richards, Norvin. 2005. Phase edge and extraction: A Tagalog case study. Linguistic Inquiry 36. 565–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahajarizafy, Antoine. 1960. Essai sur la grammaire Malgache. Antananarivo: Imprimerie Catholique.Google Scholar
Rajaonarimanana, Narivelo. 1995. Grammaire moderne de la langue Malgache. Paris: L'Asiathèque.Google Scholar
Rajemisa-Raolison, Régis. 1969. Grammaire Malgache. Fianarantsoa: Editions Ambozontany.Google Scholar
Randriamasimanana, Charles. 1986. Causatives of Malagasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Rizzi, Luigi. 1986. Null objects in Italian and the theory of pro. Linguistic Inquiry 17. 501–57.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, Peter S. 1967. The grammar of English predicate complement constructions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Ruys, Eddy G. 2000. Weak crossover as a scope phenomenon. Linguistic Inquiry 31. 513–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schachter, Paul. 1987. Tagalog. The world's major languages, ed. by Comrie, Bernard, 936–58. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sabel, Joachim. 2002. WH-questions and extraction asymmetries in Malagasy. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics (Proceedings of the 8th Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association) 44. 309–23.Google Scholar
Sells, Peter. 2006. Using subsumption rather than in equality in functional control. Proceedings of the LEG '06 Conference, ed. by Butt, Miriam and King, Tracy Holloway. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. Online: http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/LFG/11/1fg06sells.pdf.Google Scholar
Speas, Margaret. 1995. Generalized control and null objects in optimality theory. Papers in optimality theory (University of Massachusetts occasional papers 18), ed. by Beckman, Jill, Dickey, Laura Walsh, and Urbanczyk, Suzanne, 637–54. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts GLSA.Google Scholar
Subbarao, Karumuri V. 2003. Backward control: Evidence from Mizo (Tibeto-Burman). Delhi: University of Delhi, ms.Google Scholar
Zribi-Hertz, Anne, and Mbolatianavalona, Liliane. 1999. Towards a modular theory of linguistic deficiency: Evidence from Malagasy pronouns. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 17. 161–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar