Looking Out Over the Horizon

Raising and control have been central concerns of generative syntax since the 1960s and continue to be an empirical focus of every comprehensive model that has come along since. The analysis of these constructions in each framework has typically relied crucially on the most fundamental assumptions underlying that framework. Thus, raising and control continue to provide an excellent window into generative models of syntax, and a useful tool for measuring the validity of their claims. In the 40 years since the publication of Rosenbaum (1967) and the 33 years since the publication of Postal (1974), attention to these constructions has persevered through each significant paradigm shift in generative syntax. Interest in these constructions has also broadened (from an initial focus on English and French) to include analyses of similar (or apparently similar) grammatical phenomena in a wide range of languages. Most recently, interest in raising and control has once again surged with the rise of the Minimalist Program. At the same time, some of the most recent analyses venture into relatively underexplored languages and/or grammatical phenomena. Concerned as we are with empirical results informing theoretical paradigms, we think that renewed attention to these two constructions, combined with an expanding empirical basis for analysis, makes this a particularly appropriate time to produce a book that gathers in one place some of the more interesting work being done on the topic at this time.

Keywords

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