Russian datives again:On the (im)possibility of the small clause analysis

In this paper I use the interpretation of the repetitive adverb opjat’ ‘again’ in Rus-
sian to argue that ditransitive structures in this language do not involve a small
clause structure (Kayne 1984; Beck & Johnson 2004; a.o.). Under the syntactic ap-
proach to the semantics of repetitives that I adopt (von Stechow 1996; Beck 2005;
a.o.), the interpretation of repetitives is determined by their attachment in the syn-
tactic representation. I show that in Russian ditransitives, unlike in English ones
(Beck & Johnson 2004), only the repetitive reading of ‘again’ is possible, and argue
that no reason other than a difference in the syntactic structures of ditransitives
in two languages can account for that. I also observe that unlike datives that are
found in ditransitives, “higher” dative arguments and locative applicatives in Rus-
sian can occur in constructions where there is a syntactic constituent denoting the
resultant state, and thus the restitutive reading of repetitives is available.