Infinitival complementation in Russian

Abstract

I am considering a number of recent theories of control against the evidence presented by Russian infinitives to see which theory provides us with a better account of the data. The theories considered are: 1) the intricate mechanism of control relations developed in Landau (2000); 2) the neat pattern of infinitival restructuring described in Wurmbrand (2001); 3) the relentless disposal of structure in subject-control infinitives implemented by Babby (1998) and 4) the blunt change of perspective first put forward in Hornstein (1999). Each theory makes strong predictions about the behaviour of infinitival clauses w.r.t. certain properties – observing those properties in interaction I am going to conclude that a restructuring approach is the most capable candidate so far.