Advances in Role and Reference Grammar

(^192) L. MICHELLE CUTRER
Non-purpose core junctures which have actor control, such as commissives
and intransitives, may not passivize, because control of the subject gap is
obligatory, and because in the case of intransitives, there is no impersonal
passivization with intransitive verbs in English.
Note that, as we saw in the previous section, arbitrary control struc­
tures such as indirect questions may also passivize, as evidenced in (57).
(57) a. Bill asked John what to do.
b. John was asked what to do.
Indirect questions, like complements of promise type verbs, have an obliga­
tory gap. This suggests that it is not just the parameter of obligatoriness of
the gap which rules out passivization with promise type verbs. In (57b), pas­
sivization is possible because, although the gap is obligatory, the interpreta­
tion of controller is not uniquely determined; arbitrary control, a generic
interpretation or controller is possible; however, speech act or pragmatic
information may provide an interpretation where the "asker" or a group
which includes the "asker" is controller. It follows that passivization is dis­
allowed only in cases where the subject gap is both obligatorily and
uniquely controlled. Both purpose constructions, where the gap is not
obligatory, and indirect questions, where the controller is not uniquely
determined, allow a passivized matrix clause.
3.5 State predicates
Control phenomena occur not only with infinitival complements, but also
with other types of complements. It seems likely that non-infinitival clauses
which exhibit control phenomena might also be accounted for by appealing
to semantic, pragmatic and clause linkage factors. In this section, we will
briefly look at how a semantic approach could be applied to one type of
non-infinitival complement which shows control phenomena, namely state
predicates. Bresnan (1982) discusses such constructions in her account of
control phenomena. State predicates include constructions such as the fol­
lowing:
(58) a. John regards Mary as friendly.
b. Mary strikes John as friendly.
With verbs such as regard, admire and respect, the actor does not affect the
undergoer; rather, the undergoer is thought of or considered in a particular