Basque ditransitives

This paper proposes an analysis of Basque ditransitive clauses within a framework in which argument structure is syntactically built. After examining the categorial status of the dative phrase and its structural relation to the DO, I briefly review two major proposals made in previous analyses and present my own, which combines the basic insights of both earlier proposals, consisting of a non-derived hierarchic order in which the IO c-commands the DO, and the introduction under VP of an applicative head relating the two objects. Since this view rests on Pylkkänen’s (2008) analysis of applicative constructions, I discuss the distinction between low and high applicatives and apply the major tests of the applicative diagnostic.