The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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b. */??dan šalax le-pariz et rina
Dan sent to-Paris Acc Rina
(iii) As already mentioned, the Directional preposition in Hebrew is either le- or el
(‘to’), as shown in (39a). 29 While le- is ambiguous, occurring both in the Dative and the
Directional (39b) constructions, el can be used only in the latter; it cannot be used with
an unambiguous Dative verb (39c):
(39) a. dan šalax et ha-yeladim le-/el-rina Directional
Dan sent Acc the-children to-Rina
b. dan šalax et ha-sfarim le-rina/la-ktovet šel rina Dative/Directional
Dan sent Acc the-books to-Rina/to+the-address of Rina
“Dan sent the books to Rina/to Rina’s address.”
c. *dan natan sfarim el rina Dative
Dan gave books to Rina
Using this difference between le- and el, it is possible to demonstrate clearly that
the Dative and the Directional uses of šalax (‘sent’) are distinct. The Dative/Directional
ambiguity of le- is resolved once we use a pronoun. Dative pronominals (la- in (40b))
cannot serve as Directionals. In other words, (40a) can mean the same as (39a), but
(40b) cannot mean ‘sent the children’, unless one can box and mail children.
(40) a. dan šalax otam el-eha Directional
Dan sent them-Acc to-her
b. dan šalax la otam/otam la Dative
Dan sent her-Dat them-Acc/them her-Dat
29 The le-/el alternation in the Directional construction is rather free. It is worth noting that as opposed to
le-, el cannot be used to introduce Geographic Names:
(i)
a. bart nasa *el/le-london/yam ha-melax
Bart went to London/The Dead Sea
b. bart nasa el ha-ir ha-gdola/ha-yam/ /la-ir ha-gdola/yam
Bart went to the big city/the sea