Abstract
Although control infinitives have been assumed to be uniformly CP as strong phases, I argue within the framework of the Minimalist Program in Chomsky (2001a) that control infinitives are divided into two types of CP phases. Specifically, it is proposed that irrealis infinitives are weak CP phases while realis infinitives are strong CP phases. This proposal not only explains the applicability of Heavy DP Shift out of control infinitives and other empirical facts including Double Passive Constructions in English and Scrambling out of finite clauses in Japanese, but also provides a conceptual advantage in that the strong/weak distinction is relevant for CP phases as well as vP phases, thereby making possible a unified treatment of CP and vP.
