The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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4. Locative, Directional and Dative Ps
In the literature, the constructions to be discussed in this chapter (1) are often
treated as a group, apart from PP-verb constructions.
(1) a. bart sam et ha-sefer leyad/mitaxat la-šulxan Locative
Bart put Acc the-book near/under to+the table
b. bart natan et ha-pras le-lisa Dative
Bart gave Acc the-prize to-Lisa
c. ha-pakid hifna et rina la-menahel Directional
the-clerk directed Acc Rina to+the-manager
Indeed, there are verbs that occur with both the Directional and Locative PPs (Dan
threw the ball/ran under the table/to Mary), suggesting that these PPs are alike. 1 Note,
however that the Directional and Locative PPs are not interchangeable in (1a) and (1c)
(e.g. *Bart put the book to Lisa, *The clerk directed Lisa near the table).
In fact, Locative PPs differ from both the Directional and Dative PPs; the latter are
restricted to a certain kind of verbs (roughly speaking, verbs of motion or transfer),
whereas the former can combine with almost any verb (2). 2 Thus, the relation between
the Directional and Dative PPs and the corresponding verbs cannot be treated on a par
with the relation of the Locative PP and the verb.
(2) Bart found/ate/crushed the candy (under the table/*to Lisa/*from Tel Aviv).
Among the constructions in (1), the Locative construction (1a) clearly differs from
the PP-verb constructions analyzed in chapter 3, as it admits any locative preposition,
rather than a particular one (cf. Marantz 1984).
1 Directional PPs include in addition to Goal and Source PPs, headed by to and from, respectively, also
Route PPs (e.g. through, via). The latter are excluded from the present discussion. For the justification of
the exclusion see section 4.3.
2 There are verbs, mostly stative psych-verbs such as love and hate, which cannot be modified by a
Locative PP:
(i)
*Bart loved the candy under the table.