The interpretation of bare prepositional phrases with the preposition <em>en</em>

Abstract

In this paper we deal with some locative expressions from Río de la Plata Spanish in which the preposition en combines with singular count nominals.
We examine their semantic and syntactic behavior by applying a series of tests and, as a result, we classify them according to three semantic classes. In the first class, the bare noun has a generic reading (Los alumnos suelen estudiar en biblioteca). Regarding the second class, the bare noun refers to an individual entity (La reunión de los claustros se hace a las 17 horas en rectorado), while in the third class the bare nominal refers to a prototypical activity that takes place in the location denoted by the noun (En este momento, el doctor está en quirófano). Furthermore, we analyze some uses that show microvariation between Uruguayan and Argentinian Spanish. Finally, we claim there is a possible tendency  in colloquial Río de la Plata Spanish towards allowing a wider distribution of bare nominals than those previously attested in the literature (Bosque 1996; Masullo 1996; Laca 1999; Espinal 2010; Espinal & McNally 2011).

Original received: 2015/12/22

Review sent to author: 2016/03/30

Accepted: 2016/05/12