A Note on Control Shift

This squib is concerned with control shift: the phenomenon that subject control predicates turn into object control predicates, and vice versa (Larson 1991). Control shift appears to cast doubt on the Movement Theory of Control, but this squib shows that the phenomenon does not pose a threat to the Movement Theory of Control but rather supports it. It is shown that control shift arises only when the predicate permits a double object construction (DOC) , and hence the to-infinitive can be taken to be a nominal complement. If the to-infinitive is not a nominal, extraction out of it is permitted and hence the closest DP serves as the controller, provided that control is movement, and if, on the other hand, it is a nominal, extraction out of a nominal to-infinitive is not permitted and so the closest DP may not be the controller. This squib shows that control shift takes place when a predicate allows a DOC, which opens up the possibility that the to-infinitive can be the direct object—a nominal.