The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

of the main verb, along lines proposed by Rothstein (2000, 2003) for resultative
constructions (e.g. Dan wiped the table clean). In the Tough Construction, the NP/PP
and the tough adjective are argued to form a complex AP predicate. The complex
tough predicate, unlike the tough adjective itself, has an external argument slot (the
externalized theta-role of the N/V). Viewed this way, the analysis of the Tough
Construction explains and settles the long-standing controversy associated with the
thematic status of the subject position in the Tough Construction (cf. Chomsky 1981,
1986).
The outcome of the analysis is that the cluster of properties attested in object gap
constructions in English vs. Hebrew follows from the ‘Lex/Syn (Lexicon/Syntax)
parameter’ (Reinhart and Siloni 2003). More specifically, in Hebrew externalization
of the theta-role by P pred takes place in the lexicon, in English the same happens in
syntax. This immediately explains why in English, but not in Hebrew, externalization
involves Op (null operator)-movement. Furthermore, it provides a promising direction
for deriving the fact, previously unaccounted for, that the constructions are nominal in
Hebrew but verbal in English.