The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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(91) a. [ CP C [ TP T PP]]
b. [ CP C [ VP V PP]]
c. [ CP C PP]
(91c) can be ruled out on empirical grounds. Consider the following examples that
include the adverbial mamaš (lit. ‘really’, similar, but not identical, to ‘right’):
(92) a. dan maca et ha-sefer mamaš al kce ha-šulxan
dan found Acc the-book right on edge the-table
“Dan found the book right on the edge of the table.”
b. *ha-sefer mamaš al kce ha-šulxan nir’e me’anyen
the-book right on edge the-table seems interesting
“The book right on the edge of the table seems interesting.”
In (92a) the Locative PP modifies the VP, and therefore it is c-commanded by T.
In (92b) it modifies the subject of the clause, and therefore it is not c-commanded by the
matrix T or V. Note also that in (92b) the Locative PP does not form a clausal modifier,
it is not introduced by še- (‘that’). Accordingly, there is no reason to believe that the
Locative PP is embedded under T. It is plausible to account for the contrast in (92) by
assuming that the adverb mamaš needs to be licensed by a c-commanding T or V. This
is not unreasonable, as adverbs are related to the e argument (introduced by the verb),
which is bound by the existential operator associated with T. 47 Given this, (92b) is
ungrammatical, since there is no c-commanding T or V that can license the adverb
47 The full grammaticality of the English gloss of (92b) is probably due to the following. Right is assumed
to be the typical prepositional adverb, namely an adverb whose occurrence is licensed by a preposition
(rather than by T or V):
(i)
a. Eat it (up).
b. Eat it (right) up!
c. Eat it (*right).
The Hebrew mamaš is not strictly prepositional (ii), and therefore needs licensing by T (or V).
(ii) a. hu mamaš yafe
he [is] really pretty
b. dan mamaš af
Dan really flew