The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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already ΘSat ARB (see (37)). 25
Instrument adjuncts (licensed by Agent interpretation, Reinhart and Siloni 2004)
are grammatical (5.2.4), as ΘSat ARB has the necessary Agent interpretation.
Another direct consequence of the lexical externalization in (37) is the absence
of D. As opposed to an e-N, the newly created nominal ( le N) is clearly predicative (as
observed in section 5.2.2). It has an external argument slot (i.e. the externalized
Theme), on a par with As such as nice or smart. (In)definiteness is a property of
(nominal) arguments, not of predicates. Therefore, a le N cannot be specified for
definiteness (or indefiniteness, for that matter), it is neither definite nor indefinite (see
also Engelhardt 1998) (5.2.1). Consequently, its combination with the functional head
D is excluded, as it lacks the feature assumed to be checked against D. 26
The absence of D is what arguably underlies the ungrammaticality of adverbial
modification in le NPs (see 5.2.5). It is reasonable to assume that adverbial
modification in verbal and nominal domains is, in principle, the same. Adverbial
modifiers are predicated of the e argument of the corresponding lexical head (i.e. V or
N) (Higginbotham 1985, Parsons 1990). The e argument is bound by the existential
operator associated with the functional head (T or D), above the lexical one. Focusing
on nominals, it is reasonable to suggest that adverbial modifiers are attached at the DP
(or D’) level, unlike the AP modifiers that are attached at the NP (or N’) level. Once
the DP layer is missing, there is no projection to which an adverbial phrase can attach.
Finally, since le- functioning as P pred removes Genitive Case, the predicative
constituent it forms is necessarily nominal in Hebrew (38) (contrasting sharply with
English):
(38) a. ha-kelev kaše *le’alef/le-iluf
the-dog [is] difficult to+tame/to-taming
“The dog is difficult to tame.”
25 The same line of reasoning will derive the fact that it is impossible to passivize the embedded
constituent in English object gap constructions (see 5.4.2.2).
26 D [+mod] , argued in Siloni (1997) to head semi-relatives, cannot combine with a le NP either: Although
D [+mod] does not introduce [+definite] feature, its specifier is occupied by an Op (null operator) whose
trace has Case. Recall, however, that there is no Case in the le NP.