Variation in the phase structure of applicatives

This paper argues that a substantial amount of the variation in the grammatical properties of applicative constructions arises from structural differences between two main types, identified by Pylkkänen (2000) as “high” and “low” applicatives. High applicatives take an NP specifier and a VP complement, while low applicatives take an NP specifier and an NP complement. The two types of applicatives differ in their lexical-semantic and transitivity properties, as well as in their A-movement properties under raising or passivization, and in their phonological phrasing. It is proposed that these differences arise from a difference in “phase” structure, where phases are syntactic domains that play a role in semantic and phonological interpretation.