Aspect and the dative alternation

Abstract

The study examines the syntax of the dative alternation in English, considering, in particular, the conditions determining the occurrence of the double object construction (DOC). The analysis is based on the hypothesis according to which the argument structure is determined by the structure of the event, which in turn corresponds to a system of relations projected by the lexical heads and their arguments, to which formal properties relevant to the calculus of the aspectual interpretation are associated. It is thus assumed that aspect is interpreted compositionally by the verbal and the nominal properties in the verb-complement configuration. In particular, it is argued that the (canonical) position of the direct object licenses the formal features of aspect in the verbal projection, confirming Tenny’s (1994) original hypothesis stating that the thematic roles syntactic relevant are the ones that are aspectually relevant. Assuming that the variants in the dative alternation are projections of the heads [v-V-P], v e P being telicity markers, as proposed in Travis (2005), it is argued that in the COD variant, the possessor argument is licensed by the telic head v; in the variant dative-P, the possessor argument is licensed in the complement position of the telic head P. The occurrence of these options, particularly the variant COD, is parametrically determined, in terms of the licensing of the formal features of the (direct) object.