Goal-source asymmetry and Russian spatial prefixes

Abstract

In this paper, I draw on data from Russian to argue for the asymmetry between Goal and Source prepositional phrases. Source prepositional phrases are structurally ambiguous; they can occur both as arguments and adjuncts in certain syntactic contexts. Goal prepositional phrases are unambiguously arguments. I claim that Source prepositions have lexically specified semantics, which determines their relative structural freedom; whereas Goal prepositions are derived from locative prepositions when the building of the event structure takes place and therefore they are bound to be the arguments of the verb.