The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

38
On my proposal (section 2.2.1) members of P realize three subtypes of P: P R ,
P pred and P C. Their functions are repeated here for convenience:
(26) The functions of P
(i) P R specifies the semantic predicate-argument relation between two entities.
(ii) P C checks structural Case (i.e. it checks the uninterpretable Case feature of
its nominal complement).
(iii) P pred introduces one-place predicates (properties).
As already observed in 2.2.2, (almost) any preposition can realize P R . As far as
lexical information is concerned, nothing special needs to be assumed, apart from the
most natural and trivial assumption, that the meaning of the preposition realizing P R
automatically determines the nature of the relation denoted by P R (e.g. location,
cause, path). This is schematized in (27):
(27) a. because [P R ] R = cause
b. under [P R ] R = (specific) location
For a subset of Ps that realize P C and P pred (referred to descriptively as small Ps,
see 2.2.2), I assume that in addition to their lexical meaning, they are associated with
formal features such as φ-features, and/or they can be specified for some grammatical
function such as [pred]. This enables them to realize P C and P pred functions,
31, 32
respectively, as shown in rough lines in (28):
(28) a. al (‘on’): [P R ] R = (specific) location
[P C ] φ-features
b. le- (‘to’): [P R ] R = path
[P C ] φ-features
[P pred ]
31 I do not mention lexical information which is language specific. For instance, the Hebrew
preposition le- (‘to’) can be affixal, whereas its English counterpart to cannot (see chapters 4 and 5
where this distinction is shown to have significant implications).
32 I do not intend to exhaust all the meanings of the illustrated prepositions.