The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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b. dan hisbir et rina i le-acma i /*la i
Dan explained Acc Rina i to-herself /*her
.
The subject DP in each of the constructions is undoubtedly the argument of the
verb. Thus, the fact that the DP introduced by the Dative P has to be reflexive (14a)
indicates that this DP and the subject DP are co-arguments of the Dative verb.
Therefore, I conclude that the Dative P does not count as a (semantic) predicate. If it
did, given condition B (9), the occurrence of a pronoun should have been grammatical,
contrary to facts. This suggests that the Dative P is an instance of P C , rather than P R (the
same conclusion is reached in Kayne 1984 for the English Dative preposition to).
In the Locative and Directional constructions the DP introduced by the
corresponding prepositions is a pronoun, rather than a reflexive (12a), (13a). This
indicates that the DP introduced by P and the subject DP are not co-arguments. 4 Since
the latter is the argument of the verb, it is reasonable to conclude that the former is the
argument of the preposition. In other words, given condition B (9), in these
constructions P is certainly a (semantic) predicate, as it has at least one argument (the
internal one). Recall that I assume that prepositions which are interpreted as predicates
realize P R (see 2.2.2). Hence Directional and Locative Ps are P R .
Note that in all the constructions presented above a DP introduced by P has to be
reflexive in order to corefer with the object DP ((12b), (13b), (14b)). Given
“Reflexivity”, this can be taken to indicate that the DP introduced by P and the object
DP are co-arguments. In the Dative construction these DPs are co-arguments of the
Dative verb, as it is the only predicate in the construction. But in the Locative and
Directional constructions the DP introduced by P is the argument of P, not of the verb.
Therefore, the object DP and the DP introduced by P appear to be co-arguments not of
the verb, but of P. Viewed this way, Locative and Directional Ps may be construed as
syntactic predicates (10). I will return to this issue in 4.3 and 4.4.
Additional support for the distinction argued for in this section between the
semantic status of the Locative and Directional Ps on the one hand, and the Dative P
on the other hand is provided in (15). The ability of the Locative and Directional PPs
to function as main predicates (i.e. predicates across copula) (15a,b), as opposed to the
4 See Reinhart and Reuland (1993) for the account of the marginal occurrence of the reflexive in the
Locative and Directional constructions.