The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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I take the fact that the Hebrew [-c] verbs in (101), which correspond to the
Russian [-c] verbs in (100), do not appear with the Dative Case marker le- (‘to’), but
rather with the prepositions be- (‘in’) and al (‘on’), to indicate that the function of the
Dative Case is different in Hebrew and Russian. It seems that in Hebrew, but not in
Russian, Dative Case is limited to the [-c] cluster interpreted as Recipient rather than
any other kind of [-c] (e.g. spatial Goal, see below for further discussion).
In the following section I will show that the same possibilities to realize the [-c]
role, namely Dative Case or PP, are used in English.
3.5.2.2 [-c] in English: I first repeat the exemplary group of
Hebrew/Russian/English [-c] verbs in (102):
(102) Hebrew English Russian
tamax be- supported podderžival DP-Acc
asar al forbid zapretil DP-Dat
bagad be- betrayed izmenil DP-Dat
pakad al ordered prikazal DP-Dat
iyem al threatened ugrožal DP-Dat
hišpi’a al influenced povliyal na
himer al bet on stavil na
hibit be- looked at posmotrel na
The last two verbs, bet (on) and looked (at) illustrate the expected PP realization
of the [-c] role, and therefore present no problem. However, the other verbs occur
with no preposition in English, and therefore might be assumed to be Accusative
assigning verbs. But in the Theta System framework assumed here (Reinhart 2000,
2001, 2002), verbs which assign a [-c] role are not marked with [Acc] (see 3.2.3).
Given (99), their [-c] role can be realized either via Dative Case (103a) or as a PP
(103b). Let us examine which option is more plausible.
(103)
(a) The [-c] role of the English verbs with no overt P is realized via Dative Case.
(b) English [-c] verbs with no overt P realize their [-c] role using an empty P (PP).