The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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2. The theory of P
The main goal of the theory of P developed in this study is to explain the
relations between the various manifestations of P in syntax, based on their properties.
It is widely assumed that the distinction between lexical and functional categories
applies to all categories, and is instrumental for syntactic analyses (Chomsky 1986,
Fukui 1986, Fukui and Speas 1986, Abney 1987, Pollock 1989, Grimshaw 1991,
among many others). In this respect, I believe that a well-founded classification of P
is not only important in itself, but in fact is the key to explaining the attested
differences between the various PPs. Thus the primary goal of this chapter will be to
define P with regard to this dimension.
As mentioned in chapter 1, determining whether P is lexical or functional is not
as obvious as one would hope. In the past three decades P was classified as uniformly
lexical (Jackendoff 1977), as uniformly functional (Grimshaw 1991, Baker 2003), and
as both lexical (referred to as ‘grammatical’ or ‘semi-lexical’) and functional
(Emonds 1985, Van Riemsdijk 1990, 1998).
From a descriptive point of view, given the diverse manifestations of P to be
accounted for, the non-uniform approach (cf. Van Riemsdijk 1998) is apparently the
most appealing one. Adopting it amounts to claiming that P includes two syntactic
categories, the lexical category P and the functional one. In other words, this category
would be a single category type only to the extent that N and D, or T and V are a
single category (in the spirit of Grimshaw’s (1991) ‘extended projection’).
I believe that there are no good reasons to view any members of P as lexical.
Consequently, I put forward the hypothesis in (1):
(1) The main hypothesis
P is uniformly a functional category.
Section 2.1 discusses the properties of P vise a vise the properties of the
functional and the lexical categories, establishing the main hypothesis of the study.
Assuming that P is functional, section 2.2 introduces the three subtypes of P, and
discusses their functions. Section 2.3 clarifies some specific aspects of the lexical
representation of prepositions.