SEMANTIC AND SYNTACTIC FACTORS IN CONTROL 181level of grammatical relations. This is not surprising, as English is a refer
ence-dominated language, i.e. it possesses pragmatic pivots, where there is
the greatest distinction between semantic roles and grammatical relations.
It appears that control is determined at the semantic or thematic role level,
rather than at the level of grammatical relations. This is consistent with the
prediction that I wish to make, that control is primarily meaning driven,
rather than syntactically driven.
3.1.2.2 Control of the subject gap in purpose constructions
Control of the optional subject gap in purpose clauses remains to be
accounted for. Note that control of the subject gap is a non-obligatory con
trol relation as the subject can be optionally filled. I propose that control of
the subject gap is also semantically determined, although certain cases may
allow an evoked recipient controller as a result of pragmatic factors. In the
following sections, we will look at the control facts of various semantic clas
ses of verbs.
3.1.2.2.1 Possession and use verbs
One class of verb which occurs in purpose constructions is "possession and
use" verbs. Verbs which indicate "possession and use" are illustrated by the
following examples.
(31) a. 7 kept the paper to read.
b. / got the paper to read.
John chose a shirt to wear.
d. Mary has her mother to consider.
In all of these examples, the verb indicates possession (or choice and use) of
an object by an actor. For example, in (31a), the actor possesses an item,
the paper. The dependent core to read encodes the use to which the object
is put, or the action performed on the possessed item.
With "possession and use" verbs, such as keep, get, choose, and have,
the matrix actor is predicted to be controller of the subject gap, when there
is one. This follows from two facts. First, the actor is the only available
argument, as the undergoer already controls the object gap. Second, the
semantics of "possession and use" verbs predicts actor control. The matrix
verb indicates possession, choice, or use of the undergoer on the part of the
actor. The actor is an effector-recipient, who uses or chooses a particular
item for a particular purpose, the purpose encoded in the lower clause. The