Syntax Square resumes this week with a talk by Coppe van Urk.
Speaker: Coppe van Urk
Title: On Visser’s Generalization
Time: Monday, February 7, 11:30a-12:30p
Place: 32-D461
This talk deals with Visser’s Generalisation (VG), the claim that subject control is incompatible with passivisation (Jenkins 1972, Bresnan 1982). On the basis of new cross-linguistic data, VG is argued to be evidence for models of control in which T plays a facilitating role in establishing subject control (e.g. Borer 1989; Landau 2000 et seq.). In addition, VG stated in this way is shown to be derivable from independent proposals about the syntax of implicit arguments and control.