be-at'(x,y)

[John Peterson]

Hi!

I hope the following question isn't too naive or something that has
already been discussed over and over.

Is there any justification for assuming that with locatives of the form
[be-LOC' (x,y)] "x" is the location and "y" the theme? I ask this because
it has always seemed counter-intuitive to me: If "x" is the theme, it
would be higher on the thematic relations scale and it seems to me that a
number of other facts would follow automatically from this:

Case marking (nom) and verb agreement of the theme
The "privileged" status of the theme in pivots, e.g. (over the phone) "I'm
in the office and am still waiting for him to come".

Am I missing something very basic here? I'd appreciate any help!

All the best,
John

-- 
John Peterson
FB 7, Sprachwissenschaft
Universität Osnabrück
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Germany
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