The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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4.4.3 Modification by Locative PPs
As already mentioned, Locative PPs, in addition to their occurrence in the
Locative and existential constructions, function as modifiers, forming open constituents,
PPs, rather than SCs.
Semantic analyses take Locative Ps to be two-place predicates locating one entity
(‘the located object’) relative to the other (‘reference object’). The entity located can be
either an individual or an eventuality (Zwarts and Winter 2000, Maienborn 2001). In
other words, the Locative P defines its complement as the Location of either individuals
or eventualities.
Following Higginbotham 1985, I assume that the mechanism which underlies
modification is identification of two external arguments. More specifically, the external
slot of the locative PP can be saturated either by identification with R, the external
argument of Ns, or by e, the external argument of Vs (Davidson 1967, Higginbotham
1985). The ability to modify eventualities is usually taken to indicate that the modifier
(e.g. an adverb, a VP-internal Locative PP (Parsons 1990)) has an e argument, with
which the e variable of the verb is identified. In what follows I will adopt this
assumption.
Thus when a Locative PP modifies a VP (86a) its e variable is identified with the e
of the verb (and its internal slot (Int) is saturated by the nominal complement). When it
modifies a nominal (86b), the external slot of the Locative P (Ext) is identified with the
external argument of the nominal (R):
(86) a. Dan ate/talked to Rina [in the garden].
V: e, … P loc : e, Int
b. The book [on the table] belongs to my aunt.
P loc : Ext, Int
N R
Viewed this way, the lexical representation of the Locative P resembles the
argument structure of a verb, which is assumed to have in addition to its thetaargument(s),
an e argument (Davidson 1967; Williams 1980; Higginbotham 1985;