The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation
The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation
The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation
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179<br />
(12) a. bart ti’er et ha-pi’anu’ax šel ha-kod<br />
Bart described Acc the-deciphering of the-code<br />
b.*ma bart ti’er et ha-pi’anua’x?<br />
What Bart described Acc the-deciphering<br />
c.*et ha-kod bart ti’er et ha-pi’anu’ax<br />
Acc the-code Bart described Acc the-deciphering<br />
Compare:<br />
(13) a. bart nisa lefa’ane’ax et ha-kod<br />
Bart tried to+decipher Acc the-code<br />
b. ma bart nisa lefa’ane’ax?<br />
What Bart tried to+decipher<br />
c. et ha-kod, bart nisa lefa’ane’ax<br />
Acc the-code, Bart tried to+decipher<br />
.<br />
Given the above, I conclude that without some additional stipulations, Opmovement<br />
in the le-nominal sequence is unlikely to be the right operation to create a<br />
predicative phrase, NP or PP. 10<br />
5.2.2.2 Engelhardt’s (1998) activity nominals: Engelhardt (1998) argues that the<br />
nominal in object gap constructions (and some other generic contexts) is a ‘defective’<br />
kind of argument taking nominal. This kind of nominal is referred to as activity rather<br />
than event nominal (A-NOM, as opposed to E-NOM in Engelhardt 1998). <strong>The</strong><br />
defective nature of these nominals is hypothesized to derive from the absence of D. 11<br />
As already mentioned, e-Ns are not on a par with simple nominals. Both can be<br />
arguments (projecting DPs), but only the latter can be across copula predicates (NPs)<br />
((6b) vs. (7b)). Thus the occurrence of e-Ns without D cannot be treated as a<br />
10 This conclusion is consistent with the fact that there is no iteration of the embedded constituent in<br />
Hebrew object gap constructions:<br />
(i) a. *dan hexin marak reyxani le-šixnu’a šel yosi le-axila/le’exol<br />
Dan prepared soup aromatic to-persuading of Yosi to-eating/to+eat<br />
“Dan prepared an aromatic soup to convince Yosi to eat.”<br />
b. *marak ko reyxani kal le-šixnu’a šel yosi le-axila/le’exol<br />
soup so aromatic easy to-persuading of Yosi to-eating/to+eat<br />
“Such an aromatic soup is easy to convince Yosi to eat.”<br />
11 It is worth noting that Engelhardt (1998) does not follow Grimshaw’s (1990) lexical approach to e-<br />
Ns, but rather adopts the syntactic view argued for in Hazout 1990, Borer 1999.
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