The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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The group in (98) is not meant to exhaust the group of [-c] Hebrew PP-verbs, but
rather to illustrate the situation which obtains in this group (the more exhaustive list of
verbs appears in Appendix B). As can be seen from (98), although there are some
Hebrew [-c] verbs which surface as PP-verbs in English (and Russian), many others
do not surface as such in English. The question is why there are [-c] verbs in English
which appear without a preposition. What makes it possible? Before I provide the
answer for the raised question, some words of clarification regarding the realization of
the [-c] role are necessary.
3.5.2.1 The [-c] cluster and Dative Case: In sections 3.2 and 3.3 it is argued that
Hebrew PP-verbs are associated with [P C ] (rather than with [Acc]), which is realized
by small Ps, whose function is to check the Case of the nominal. Thus P C is viewed as
a Case-checking device.
Based on the observation that many [-c] verbs in Russian appear with a Dative
DP, I propose that in some languages Dative Case, rather than a small P, may be used
when a given two/three-place verb is not marked with [Acc]. 58 This is stated in (99):
(99) Dative Case on a par with P C is a device to check the Case of the nominal
argument of an Accusative-less verb.
There are many intriguing questions regarding Dative Case. For example, is it
inherent or structural Case? How is it realized syntactically across languages, and to
what extent is its mapping to grammatical functions and thematic roles predictable
(Kayne 1984; Emonds 1985; Franks and Greenberg 1988; Baker 1997; Bayer et al.
2001; Maling 2001, among many others)? Needless to say that addressing these
questions will take us too far aside. For our purposes it suffices to understand the
differences between the realization of the [-c] cluster as a PP and as a Dative
argument. I propose that the difference between the Dative Case device and the small
58 See also Reinhart (2000, 2001) where it is suggested that [-c] is typically realized as Dative Case or
as a PP. It should be noted that although Dative Case is the typical Case of [-c] arguments, it is not
restricted to [-c] arguments. As for the PP realization of the [-c] role, various small Ps may occur, not
necessarily the typical Goal P such as to.