The case of restricted locatives

Abstract

This paper examines the cross-linguistic phenomenon of locative case restricted to a closed class of items (L-nouns). Starting with Latin, I suggest that the restriction is semantic in nature: L-nouns denote in the spatial domain and hence can be used as locatives without further material. I show how the independently motivated hypothesis that directional PPs consist of two layers, Path and Place, explains the directional uses of L-nouns and the cases that are assigned then, and locate the source of the locative case itself in p⁰, for which I then provide a clear semantic contribution: a type-shift from the domain of loci to the object domain. I then examine cross-linguistic restrictions on the use of locative case and show that the patterns observed can be accounted for on the same assumptions.