Abstract
Within the Government-Binding framework of generative grammar, the notion of ‘arbitrary interpretation’ has remained almost exclusively tied to control theory. Control theory is concerned with the circumstances under which PRO may or must be bound or free. An assumption commonly held in the many versions of control theory that have been proposed is that whenever PRO fails to be controlled (i.e., is free), it is assigned the default value arb, an index reserved for elements which may remain unbound yet lack independent specific reference. Consider in this respect the following French sentences which both contain an instance of arbitrary PRO:
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(1)a.
[PROarb chasser à l’arc] est à la mode cette année. To hunt with a bow is fashionable this year.
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b.
La peau de ce sanglier est bien trop épaisse pour The skin of this boar is way too thick [PROarb la découper au canif]. to carve it with a pocket knife.
Since there is no potential controller for either of the PROs in (1), the latter are assigned the index arb.
I am indebted to Joseph Aoun, Mürvet Enç, Osvaldo Jaeggli, Robert van Oirsouw, Ken Safir, and Dominique Sportiche for helpful comments and criticism. All remaining errors are mine.
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Authier, JM.P. (1989). Arbitrary Null Objects and Unselective Binding. In: Jaeggli, O.A., Safir, K.J. (eds) The Null Subject Parameter. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2540-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2540-3_2
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