The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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‘directional’ in (56), (57) is P C . Accordingly, it checks the structural Case (Accusative)
of the nominal. 36
4.3.3.2 The unaccusative behavior of unergative verbs of motion: As opposed to
typical Directional verbs such as send, verbs such as rac (‘ran’) or nafal (‘fell’) can be
construed as Directional, if a Directional PP is added (59), or they can be modified by a
Locative PP adjunct (60):
(59) a. ha-kelev rac la-gina
the-dog ran to+the-garden
“The dog ran to the garden.”
b. ha-matbe’a nafal la-ma’im
the-coin fell to+the-water
“The coin fell into the water.”
(60) a. ha-kelev rac ba-gina
the-dog ran in+the-garden
“The dog ran in the garden.”
b. ha-matbe’a nafal ba-gina
the-coin fell in+the-garden
“The coin fell in the garden.”
Note that ran, as opposed to fell, for instance, is an unergative one-place verb.
However, it has been noted by several researchers (Hoekstra and Mulder 1990, Ackema
1995, and references cited therein) that unergative verbs of motion such as ran, exhibit
the typical unaccusative properties (e.g. auxiliary selection in Dutch), when combined
with a Directional PP (59a). 37
Roughly speaking, a verb is classified as unergative if its subject is an external
argument (e.g. ran), but as unaccusative if it is merged internally, surfacing as the
subject upon syntactic movement (e.g. fell) (Perlmutter 1978, Burzio 1986).
36 But see Reinhart and Reuland (1995) and reference cited therein where Accusative in the Directional
constructions is assumed to be inherent, rather than structural.
37 The arguable change from unergative to unaccusative is accompanied by the aspectual shift from state
to event (Hinrichs 1985).