On Raising out of Control

Abstract Hornstein (1999) put forward two thought-provoking ideas that generated a stimulating debate on control: (a) A-movement out of CP complements of control verbs is a design feature of Universal Grammar as first suggested by Kuno (1976), and (b) obligatory control (OC) is an instance of A-movement. This article presents new evidence from Kirundi (Bantu) that supports (a) but defies (b), a paradox that is only apparent. Four sets of facts are discussed: antilocality in promise-constructions, control obviation in inverse OC constructions, passivization in transitive expletive OC constructions, and OC in long-distance inversion constructions. These facts are shown to challenge the movement account of OC while supporting (a) and the PRO-based account.