The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

57
3.3 The function and syntactic status of P
Identifying the function of P in PP-verb constructions as structural Casechecking
amounts to identifying the P as P C , rather than as P R (see 2.2.1). 22 The latter
specifies the (semantic) relation of its complement to another entity, and therefore is
interpreted as a two-place predicate, licensing inherent Case on its complement (see
chapter 2 for the definition of inherent Case). In what follows I will show that viewing
P in PP-verb constructions as P C is fully supported.
3.3.1 The P is P C
The claim that the function of the discussed prepositions is P C is consistent with
the widely-accepted assumption that in PP-verb constructions, the DP-complement of
P is the argument of the verb, not of P. It is also consistent with the observation that
the set of prepositions participating in these constructions is limited and consists of
phonologically small Ps. Recall that the latter are associated with uninterpretable φ-
features (see 2.3.1) enabling them to check the structural Case of the nominal.
There is no reason to believe that PP-verbs have recourse to P R , despite the fact
that their P-morphemes are of the locative variety (e.g. on, in, at). Locative P-
morphemes functioning as P R specify a locative relation, and license inherent Case.
The following clearly indicates that neither of these is attested in PP-verb
constructions.
(i) Consider Russian, which marks Case morphologically as a suffix on the
nominal (apart from Nominative). In addition to the standard Accusative, Dative and
Genitive Cases, Russian also has Instrumental and the so-called Locative Case,
assigned by some locative Ps in clearly locative contexts. 23 Within the group of
locative Ps that assign Locative (or Instrumental) Case, there is a sub-group of
phonologically small Ps which assign Locative in some contexts (25) but Accusative
in others (26):
22 Under the approach to P developed in chapter 2, these are the only options. The third recognized type
of P, P pred , is not a candidate, as it combines with predicative phrases (see chapters 2 and 5).
23 There are locative Ps such as vozle (‘near’) which assign Genitive.