Empty categories as Copy and No Transfer: Non-Obligatory Control and Partial Null Subjects

We assume the Copy theory of control, under which obligatory control depends on a Copy relation between the controller and the controllee, followed by deletion of the latter (‘PRO’). We further assume that pro subjects undergo deletion (No Transfer) under Agree with rich I. We are interested in the compatibility of this framework with some instances of null subjects, whose status is intermediate between standard PRO and pro. We first consider non-obligatory control and partial control, adopting an account in terms of logophoric binding via the phase edge. We then propose that the finite null subjects of Brazilian Portuguese instantiate finite control, but of the non-obligatory, logophoric kind.