Control of logophoric pronouns in Gengbe

Control is a phenomenon in which the subject of an embedded clause (the “con-
trolled argument”) is obligatorily bound by an argument of the immediately embed-
ding predicate (the “controller”). Cross-linguistic research has revealed variation
in how control sentences are syntactically instantiated, though no studies to date
have documented cases where the controlled argument is realized by an overt lo-
gophoric pronoun. Based on novel field data, we argue that precisely this happens
in Gengbe (Gbe, Niger-Congo), though only with some embedding verbs (such as
dʒí ‘want’) and only when the embedded clause has potential (as opposed to jus-
sive) mood marking. We propose an account of the facts whereby control comple-
ments are property-denoting and whereby logophoricity and jussive mood are two
independent routes for creating property-denoting clauses. The upshot is a view of
control as an emergent phenomenon; there is no “control construction” or “control
pronoun” (pro) but rather several independent components of the grammar that in-
teract to give rise to control under certain conditions for principled type-theoretic
reasons.