Axial Expressions in Russian
abstract
In this paper I discuss Russian prepositional phrases introduced by axial part lexical prepositions (i.e. AxParts). Russian AxPart items are morphologically complex: they are formed by a functional preposition and a nominal element with different case markers, depending on the interpretation (stative or directional) of the locative expression. I analyze the internal structure of Russian AxPart items following the universal structure of locative expressions proposed by Cinque, focusing in particular on the impossibility of expressing an additional complement in directional AxPart PPs. I discuss, in addition, the nominal nature of the axial elements in relation to the hypothesis of the presence of a silent nominal element (PLACE) embedded in the syntactic structure of locative PPs.
Keywords: Russian • PP • Lexical prepositions • Axial parts