The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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Appendix A: The Degree Construction (DegC)
.
The Degree construction (DegC) with degree phrases like miday (‘too’) seems
similar to the TC. The embedded constituent (verbal in English, nominal in Hebrew)
is dependent on the occurrence of the degree phrase (1a), similarly to the embedded
constituent in the TC, which is dependent on the occurrence of the tough A (A.1b): 68
(A.1) a. ha-madafim *(miday) kcarim le-harkava e DegC
The shelves [are] too short to install
b. ha-madafim *kcarim/kalim le-harkava e TC
The shelves [are] short/easy to install
However, the DegC and the TC are different in some respects, all of which are
probably connected to the relation between the adjective and the DP-subject in each
of the discussed constructions (i.e. John and angry in (A.1a) and John and easy in
(A.1b)). 69
As already discussed at length, the tough A does not have an external argument
on its own, although it has, as any other A, an external slot, and therefore can act as a
predicate (of an expletive subject). I have argued that in the TC the embedded adjunct
( le NP in Hebrew, PP in English) forms a complex predicate with the tough A,
providing the tough A with the external argument. Thus it is only upon complex
predicate formation that the subject position in the TC is thematic.
68 The clauses which appear with degree phrases like miday (‘too’) are sometimes referred to as ‘result
clauses’. However, Browning (1987) notes that a more appropriate term would be ‘negative result
clauses’. The property predicated of John in (i) is that he is angry to such a degree that it is impossible
to talk to him:
(i)
John is too angry to talk to.
69 Some additional differences between the DegC and TC include the following: The constituent which
contains the gap ( le NP in Hebrew, PP in English) is not obligatory (ia); it can be clausal (in Hebrew),
and does not necessarily contain a gap (ib):
(i)
a. ha-madafim kcarim miday (le-harkava)
the-shelves short too (to-installation)
“The shelves are too short (to install).”
b. ha-ši’ur meša’amem mixdey še-dan iša’er er
the-class [is] boring too that-Dan will stay awake
“The class is too boring for Dan to stay awake.”