Case, prepositions and aspectual prefixation in Russian

The paper offers a theory of the oblique case system of Russian based on Belvin & den Dikken’s (1997) idea of ‘zonal inclusion’ and on its implementation in works by Manzini & Franco (2016) Manzini & Franco (2016) and Franco & Manzini (2017b). It is proposed that such a framework can be enhanced by assuming that, in a language like Russian, the different contributions made by the oblique case inflection and by the preposition amount to a domain-narrowing of the former by the latter, crucially involving, in its formal implementation, Chung & Ladusaw’s (2006) Predicate Restriction. Evidence is provided based on the particular behavior of the preposition s, which can select for three different cases (genitive, instrumental, accusative) yielding different meanings. Finally, on the widely shared view that verb prefixes and prepositions in Slavic are based on the same categorial set, it is suggested that assuming Predicate Restriction as the mode of composition of P with the unprefixed verb can in principle provide a more parsimonious account of Russian aspectual prefixation, dispensing with the articulated cartographic structure postulated in most current approaches to the issue.