On Non-Obligatory Control in Persian

On Non-Obligatory Control in Persian

In this article we deal with the properties of non-obligatory control (NOC) in Persian which differentiate it from obligatory control2 (OC). Although we will argue that obligatory and non obligatory control constructions are fundamentally different, the similarities of their structures in Persian are obvious. NOC constructions like OC involve subjunctive complement which is regarded as finite complement (see [3], [4] and [7]). Then null subject in subjunctive complement in both NOC and OC constructions have nominative case and we cannot differentiate between them based on the type of case. In spite of these similarities, in this article we present firm grounds to suppose that the former type requires a pro subject or lexical subject whereas the latter type requires PRO.