Syntactic Neutralization in Double Object Constructions

This article synthesizes the “alternative projection” view of the alternation between the DP + DP and DP + PP complement frames of English double object verbs, according to which the alternants are base-generated as such, with a transformational account that claims that the DP + PP frame may be derived from the DP + DP frame. For some verbs allowing multiple complements, the DP + PP frame is syntactically ambiguous between a base-generated locative construction and a derivative of the possessive syntax associated with the DP + DP frame. Evidence from the distribution of purpose clauses motivates this conclusion, as do asymmetries in restrictions on animacy and idiom formation in the two frames.