Projective and other locative PPs in Greek

Abstract

The distinction between projective and non-projective locative prepositions that has been proposed in the semantic literature (Zwarts & Winter 2000) is reflected in the syntax and morphology of Greek spatial expressions. Projective PPs in Greek are always complex, formed by a spatial “adverb” and the “light” preposition apo marking the ground DP. In non-projective PPs, which can be either simple or complex, the light preposition alternates between se (in locative and goal environments) and apo (in source and route environments). This is attributed to the different syntactic status of the “adverb”, which is shown to be a head in projectives, and an adjunct in non-projectives (cf. Theophanopoulou-Kontou 2000). The Greek data support an extended P projection analysis along the lines of Svenonius (2008; 2010) for projectives, which relates to their vector space ontology (Zwarts & Winter 2000). Non-projective expressions, on the other hand, are syntactically reduced.