The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

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viewed as necessary conditions for the event. As will be shown in the following
section, the range of enable roles exceeds those featuring in the above examples.
3.4.2 Identification of [-m] and [-c] roles
The interpretation of the fully specified clusters is relatively stable and their
association with an argument is easily determined. The underspecified (unary)
clusters have a greater freedom of interpretation, as the non-specified feature is
consistent with either specification, giving rise to various interpretations (to be
discussed below). Therefore their association with an argument may seem to be less
straightforward. In this respect, Reinhart points out that, as far as the internal unary
clusters (i.e. [-m] (Subject Matter) and [-c] (Goal)) are concerned, the crucial question
in identifying the theta-role of an argument is whether it can serve as a cause. 35 This is
stated in (57):
(57) [-m]/[-c] Identification
An argument is [-m], if it can be perceived also as a cause, and it is [-c] if it cannot be
interpreted as such.
Given (57), the [-m]/[-c] distinction is relatively clear. 36 Consider (58):
(58) a. lisa hitxarta al ma’ase-ha
Lisa regretted on deeds-her
“Lisa regretted her deeds.”
b. bart halam ba-kir
Bart stroke in+the-wall
“Bart stroke the wall.”
The internal argument of the verb hitxarta (‘regretted’) in (58a), ma’ase-ha (‘her
deeds’), can be interpreted as the argument causing the event of ‘regret’. Therefore,
the identification of this argument as [-m] is rather straightforward. The internal
35 See also Pesetsky (1995), where a Subject Matter/Target role, represented here as [-m], is assumed to
be potentially a cause.
36 There are some problematic cases, one of them is discussed in Appendix A (e.g. xašad ‘suspected’)).