The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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syntactic manifestation: While the P C in PP-verb constructions is a full, syntactically
independent P-head, the Dative P C in Hebrew (le- ‘to’) is an affix (on D), rather than a
syntactic P-head on its own. Namely, the Goal argument in the Dative construction in
Hebrew is realized as a (Dative) DP, rather than as a PP.
Locative Ps, which are probably the most familiar instantiation of P R , function as
(two-place) predicates (predicated of individuals or events). Accordingly, I argue that
even in the locative construction headed by locative verbs such as put, where the
locative PP is often assumed to be the argument of the verb (cf. Marantz 1984), the PP
is a predicate. More precisely, the locative PP in this construction is a predicate of a
Small Clause (SC), the subject of which is the direct object of the (locative) verb.
The (semantically limited) distribution of the directional PPs headed by P such
as le-/el (‘to’), and their behavior with respect to binding are taken to indicate that the
directional P in Hebrew is P R , but not a fully-fledged one. Thus, unlike P R (e.g.
locative Ps), the external slot of this P is proposed to be closed at LF upon complex
predicate formation with the selecting head (i.e. a path denoting verb such as send, or
a semantically appropriate noun like a trip (to London) or a train (to India), but not a
noun like a child (*to India)). Comparing the Hebrew binding facts with those
attested in English and Russian, it is concluded that the Directional P in the latter is
not P R but rather an instance of P C . This accounts for the fact that the complement of
P in the Directional construction in Russian is Accusative.
In chapter 5 a close examination of P pred is undertaken in object gap
constructions, especially in the Tough Construction and the Object Purpose Clause
construction (e.g. Hebrew: ha-sefer kal li-kri’a, ‘The book is easy to read’; dan hevi et
ha-oto le-tikun, ‘Dan brought the car to repair’). In these constructions in Hebrew, the
preposition le- (‘to’) introduces nominal (rather than verbal) predicative phrases.
Based on the properties of the sequence ‘le-nominal’, le- in these constructions is
analyzed as a lexical prepositional affix (i.e. affixal P pred ). Its attachment to an eventdenoting
N results in a nominal element with an externalized theta-role (i.e. an
external argument slot, as posited for adjectives such as nice or Ps such as about,
under), projecting an NP (rather than a PP, or a DP). Extending the proposal to
English, I argue that to in English object gap constructions is a syntactic P pred (i.e. it is
not T). On a par with le- in Hebrew, to externalizes the internal role of its complement
(which is verbal), creating a predicative phrase (PP) with an external slot.