Transitivity

It is argued in this article that there is a functional category Tr ( = transitivity) located between v/Pr and V, which is universally present in all transitive sentences, regardless of whether they are active, passive. middle, or impersonal in form. Tr may contain a probe with (object) phi-features and assign accusative Case. In contrast to v/Pr, Tr does not assign a theta-role in its specifier position. Hence, the functions of the traditional light verb category "v" are split between v/Pr and Tr. Empirical evidence from English. Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Icelandic, Ukrainian, and German supports this claim.