Prepositions, Postpositions and Substantives

Author(s): Susan Plann

Source: Hispania, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), pp. 920-926
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/343312
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THEORETICAL
LINGUISTICS
Prepared by John P. Wonder*
Prepositions, Postpositions
and Substantives
U Susan Plann, Universityof California, Los Angeles
The goal of this study is to demonstrate that
the grammarof Spanishcontainsthree distinct
syntactic categories, prepositions, postposi-
tions, and substantives,' which can be distin-
guished on the basis of their respective syn-
tactic properties. The analysis makes crucial
use of certainaspects of contemporarylinguis-
tic theory, most notably, Case Theory.
According to this analysis, the class of
prepositions includes bajo, tras, sobre, desde,
por....' The class of postpositions includes
abajo, atrds, adentro, afuera, adelante, arri-
ba.... The class of substantives includes de-
bajo, detrds, cerca, lejos, alrededor, dentro,
fuera, encima, enfrente, delante.... Tradi-
tional grammarsand textbooks of Spanishdo
not always agree in their analyses of these
elements. For example, on occasion some of
these elements are classified as prepositions
while others (most notably,postpositions and
substantives) are classified as adverbs." In
other analyses, elements that I contend actu-
ally pertain to the same syntactic category
(that of substantive) are classified sometimes
as prepositions and other times as adverbs,
depending on such criterion as whether or
not they occur with a complement; and in still
others, prepositions as well as substantives
are grouped together as prepositions.4It is
my belief that a knowledge of the distinctions
discussed in this study will prove useful to
our students.
Before presenting my analysis, however,
let us briefly consider what these three
categories, prepositions, postpositions, and
*Articles for this section may be sent to Prof. John P.
Wonder,Dept. of Modern Languages, University of the
Pacific, Stockton, California95204. Maximumlength is
20 double-spaced pages. Please send a typed original
and a copy for each paper submitted, and include a self-
addressed envelope and loose stamps to cover return
mailingof the manuscript.
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substantives, have in common which might
lead grammariansto classify elements of more
than one type in the same fashion, or even
to consider them all to be manifestationsof a
single category. In the first place, there are
obvious semantic similaritiesamongelements
of the three categories. For example, the re-
spective meaningsof the prepositionstrasand
bajo and the substantives detrds and debajo
differvery little, andare clearlyclosely related
in meaning to the postpositions atrds and
abajo. The prepositionsobreand the substan-
tive encima are virtual synonyms, as are the
substantive dentroand the postposition aden-
tro. Other such examples of semantic related-
ness are easy to cite. Moreover, all three
categories are possible in many of the same
syntactic positions, for instance, as the com-
plement of estar.
(la) Los nifios estaban bajo la cama
(lb) Los nifios estaban debajo de la cama
(1c) Los nifios estaban abajo
Furthermore,morphologically,manysubstan-
tives and postpositions appear(at least super-
ficially) to be nothing more than compound
prepositions, for example, de + bajo, de +
trds, a + bajo, a + trds, etc.
Despite the superficial similarities be-
tween such elements, however, I shall argue
that the grammarof Spanishmust indeed pro-
vide a three-way categorial distinction be-
tween prepositions, postpositions, and sub-
stantives. I shall base my arguments on the
syntactic properties of each category.
Let us begin, then, by examiningthe syn-
tactic properties of prepositions, postposi-
tions, and substantives. Consider first the
position of the complement. The object of a
prepositional phrase occurs immediately to
the right of its head:5
(2a) Los libros estaban [PrepPsobre (NP la cama)]
(2b) El boligrafo estaba [PrepP en (NP el caj6n)]
 LINGUISTICS: THEORETICAL 921

(2c) El ladr6n se habia escondido [PrepP tras Now consider what happens when these
(NP la
puerta)]I constructions occur as the complement of a
(2d) No hay nada nuevo [PrepP bajo (NP el sol)].
preposition. Prepositional phrases are un-
The object of a postpositionalphrase, in con- grammaticalin this position,9
trast, occurs immediately to the left of its (8a) *Manolopas6 la mano [Prep por] [PrepP sobre la mesa]
head: (8b) *El gato me miraba[Prep desde] [Prep bajoel sill6n]
(3a) La piedra rod6 [PostP (NP montafia)abajo] (8c) *Se articulaeste sonido con la lengua retirada[Prep
(3b) El ej6rcito march6 [PostP (NP tierra) adentro] hacia] [PrepP tras los dientes]
(3c) Es dificil correr [PostP (NP cuesta) arriba] but postpositionalphrases are grammatical,
(3d) Jos6 lahabiaconocido[PostP (NPmuchosafios)atras].
(9a) Jos6 la habiaquerido[Prep desde] [PostPmuchos afios
The object of a substantive phrase, like the atris]
object of a prepositionalphrase, occurs to the (9b) Escondido detras de la cortina, el nifio me espiaba
right of the head. Unlikethe object of a prepos- [Prepdesde] [PostP arriba]
(9c) Se articula este sonido con la lengua retirada [Prep
ition, however, the object of a substantive hacia] [PostP adentro]
must be preceded by de:6 (9d) Arrojaronlasatras]/[postp
llaves [Prep hacia] [PostPabajo]
(4a) Los libros estaban [sp encima *(de) [NP la cama]] as are substantive phrases:
(4b) El boligrafo estaba [sp dentro *(de) [NP la bolsa]]
(4c) El ladr6nse habia escondido [SPdetrais*(de) [NP la (10b) Manolo pas6 la mano [Prep por] [SPencima de la
puerta]] mesa]
(4d) La casa de Jaime esta muy [sp cerca *(de) [NP la (10b) El gato me miraba[rep desde] [sPdebajodel sill6n]
estaci6n]]. (10c) Se articulaeste sonido con la lengua retirada[Prep
hacia] [sp dentro de la boca]
In terms of Case Theory,' this means that (10d) El viejo se paseaba[Prep por][sPdelantede la casa].
while prepositions and postpositions can as-
In terms of Case Theory, this suggests once
sign Case directly to their complement, sub-
stantives cannot, and require the presence again that prepositionalphrases cannotbe as-
of the semantically empty "dummy" Case signed Case, althoughpostpositionalphrases
marker de. and substantive phrases can."'
Now consider constructionsin which prep- Evidence from another construction also
ositional phrases, postpositional phrases, suggests that prepositional phrases cannot
and substantive phrases modify a head noun. bear Case, while postpositional phrases and
Prepositionalphrases that can modify a head substantive phrases can. Let us refer to this
noun must modifyit directly,without an inter- constructionas the "quantifiedclause."Exam-
vening de:" ples of quantifiedclauses containingpreposi-
tional phrases, postpositional phrases, and
(5a) los motivos (*de) para pensar asi substantive phrases are given in the respec-
(5b) una charla (*de) sobre los indios de las Americas
(5c) tres cafes (*de) con leche. tive examples of (11):
(11a) Nadie sabe [PrepP con los hombres] que ha salido
Postpositionalphrases, in contrast, must be Luisa
preceded by de when modifyinga head noun: (11b) Nadie sabe [PostP lo atras] que se esta quedando
(6a) el cuarto *(de) arriba Pedro en sus estudios
(6b) las costumbres *(de) afios atrais (11c) Nadie sabe [splo cerca] que esta Luisade terminar
(6c) los animales *(de) mar adentro. el proyecto.

Substantive phrases, like postpositional I have arguedelsewhere that this construction

phrases and unlike prepositional phrases, is best analyzed as a sentence in which a
must also be preceded by de when modifying phrase containinga quantifier-likeelement is
a head noun: moved to initialposition." This fronting pro-
(7a) las casas *(de) cerca de la escuela
cess occurs in various other constructions as
(7b) los vecinos * (de) enfrente well, for example, in exclamations and in di-
(7c) los documentos *(de) dentro del caj6n. rect and indirect questions. Thus, compare
In terms of Case Theory, this means that the examples of (11) with those of (12):
while prepositionalphrases are not assigned (12a) Nadie sabe [PrepP con cuantos hombres] hasalido
Case, postpositionalphrases and substantive Luisa
(12b) Nadie sabe cun atris] se esta quedando
phrases are assigned Case (whence, they are [PostP
Pedro en sus estudios
obligatorily preceded by the dummy Case (12c) Nadie sabe [SPcuin cerca] esta Luisa de terminar
marker de). el proyecto.

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922 HISPANIA 71 DECEMBER1988

For the purposes of this study, it is important habria mencionadomucho antes

to note that the syntactic distributionof quan- (15e) *Luisa considera [PrepP de la manera] que se hila
tified clauses in which a postpositionalphrase un copo de lana en un torno muy interesante.
or a substantive phrase occurs in initialposi- Essential for the explanationof these data is
tion differs from that of quantifiedclauses in the claim that the initialposition to which the
which a prepositionalphrase occurs in initial substantive phrase, postpositionalphrase, or
position. Quantifiedclauses with a postposi- prepositionalphrase is moved is the COMP-
tional phrase or a substantive phrase in initial (lementizer) position, together with the claim
position can appearin positions to which Case that COMP is the head of the clause.'4I as-
is assigned, but the same is not true of quan- sume, furthermore, that Case is assigned to
tified clauses with a prepositional phrase in the head of the phrase.'"Consequently,when
initialposition. For example, when a substan- a category to which Case can be assigned is
tive phrase is in initial position, a quantified in COMP,Case may be assigned to the clause
clause may occur as the object of passive por by way of the phrase in COMP.This means
(13a), as the object of prepositions like sobre that if a category that receives Case is in
and contra (13b), in conjunctionwith a noun COMP, the quantifiedclause may appear in
phrase (13c), between the verb and its com- positions to which Case is assigned. This fact
plements (13d), and as subject of a small accounts for the grammaticalityof (13) and
clause (13e):'2 (14), in which the respective Case bearing
(13a) El comit6 fue impresionadopor [sp lo lejos] que categories substantive phrase and postposi-
estaba Juan de comprender la teoria tionalphrase appearin COME But if a prepo-
(13b) Gustavo s61o hablaba sobre [sp lo lejos] que sitional
quedaba el hotel de la estaci6n
phrase, which is not a Case bearing
(13c) [sP lo lejos] que esti mi casa de la universidady category, occurs in COMP, Case cannot be
el hecho de que caminomuy lentamente hacen que assigned to the clause, which explains the
llegue tarde ungrammaticalityof (15). This difference be-
(13d) De ser [SPlocerca] que vives un factor importante, tween the
syntactic distributionof quantified
ya te habrian dado el puesto
(13e) El jefe considera[splo lejos] que estis de terminar
clauses headed by substantive phrases and
el trabajopruebade que no has trabajadomucho. postpositionalphrases, on the one hand, and
those headed by prepositionalphrases, on the
The respective examples of (14) reveal that
other, reveals once againthat the formercate-
a quantifiedclause in which a postpositional
gories can bear Case, while the latter cannot.
phrase is in initialposition can occur in these Turningnow to the question of transitivity,
same positions: we find that prepositions cannot be intransi-
(14a) El nifio fue impresionadopor [PostP lo arriba] que tive in Spanish,that is, they requirean object:
habia llegadosu cometa
(14b) El m6dicohablabasobre [Postplo adentro]que habia (16a) El nifio corria tras *(el perro)
penetrado la bala. (16b) El libro estaba bajo *(el escritorio)
(14c) Debido a [PostPlo adentro] que ha penetrado la bala (16c) Jose habia dejado los papeles sobre *(la mesa).
y el hecho de que la victima es muy mayor, sera'
dificil salvarle la vida Postpositions, on the other hand, can be in-
(14d) Por ser [Post, lo atras] que te estas quedandoen transitive:
tus estudios un asunto importante, no queremos
(17a) El niiio corria atrais
que juegues mas al flitbolhasta que puedas mejorar 17b) El novio vivia (rio) abajo
tus notas
(14e) El nifio considera [PostPlo arriba] que ha legado
(17c) Hay que seguir (camino)adelante
(17d) La piedra rod6 (montafia)abajo.
su cometa suficiente para ganar el concurso.
But a quantifiedclause in whicha prepositional Substantives, like postpositions and unlike
can also be intransitive:
phrase occurs initiallycannot appear in these prepositions,
positions:1:' (18a) El nifio corria detris (del perro)
(18b) El libro estaba encima (del escritorio)
(15a) *Rafaelfue asombradopor [PrepPde los extravios] (18c) El novio se habia escondido debajo (de la cama)
que es capaz una imaginaci6nexaltada (18d) La tia Julia vivia enfrente (de nuestra casa).
(15b) *No me hables sobre [Prepp en las muchas ocasio-
nes] que yo le he prestado ayuda In terms of Case Theory, this means that
(15c) *Mi interes en la muchachay [PrepP COnla insisten-
cia] que yo la miraba revelaban mis verdaderas
prepositions must obligatorily assign Case
intenciones hacia ella (hence, they require an object to which to
(15d) *De ser [Prepp en las muchas ocasiones] que yo le assign it), but postpositions and substantives
he prestado ayuda un tema de interns general, lo need not assign Case (hence, they do not

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require an object).'
Now consider what happens when these
phrases modify an unrealizedhead noun pre-
ceded by the definite article.'"Prepositional
phrases are unacceptable in such construc-
tions:
(19a) Escuchamos las noticias sobre la guerra del Medio
Oriente y las noticias/*O sobre la guerra de Afga-
nistain
(19b) Me explicaron los motivos para resignarse y los
motivos/*O para protestar
(19c) Trajeronel regalo paraAna pero se les olvid6traer
el regalo/*O para Marina.
Postpositional phrases are acceptable, how-
ever, providedthey are preceded by de:
(20a) ?Cuales prefieres, las costumbres de ahora o las
costumbres/0 de veinte afios atrfs?
(20b) Ya se sabe lo que pasa cuando los 0 de abajo se
convierten en los 0 de arriba.
Substantive phrases, too, can modify an un-
realized head noun, provided they are pre-
ceded by de:'119
(21a) Los ladrones se llevaronlas cosas de dentro de la
casa y las cosas/0 de dentro del garaje
(21b) Encontraronlos papeles de encima de la mesa pero
no vieron los papeles/0 de debajo del colch6n
mets
(21c) Te gusta la casa de delante de la estaci6n de
policia o la casa/0 de cerca de la autopista?
Another difference between the three
categories emerges when we consider con-
structions containing relative clauses. As is
well known, prepositionalphrases can be rela-
tivized:
(22a) la puertatras la que se habiaescondidoel ladr6n
(22b) la mesa sobre la que habiamos dejado los libros
(22c) el rio en el que habiamos tirado las piedras.
Substantivephrases, too, can be relativized:
(23a) la puerta detris de la que se habia escondido el
ladr6n
(23b) la mesa encimade la que habiamosdejadolos libros
(23c) el rio dentro del que habiamostiradolas piedras.
But postpositionalphrases, in contrast, can-
not be relativized:
(24a) *los tres afios atris que te queria
(Cf.: Te queria tres afios atris)
(24b) *el rio adentro que habiamos tirado las piedras
(Cf.: Habiamos tirado las piedras rio adentro)
(24c) *el camino adelante que hay que seguir
(Cf.: Hay que seguir camino adelante).
Summarizingthus far, we have seen that
prepositions, postpositions, and substantives
have differentsyntactic properties. The com-
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LINGUISTICS: THEORETICAL 923
plement of a preposition occurs to the right
of the head (2), while the complement of a
postposition occurs to the left of the head (3).
The complement of a substantive resembles
the complement of a prepositionin that it oc-
curs to the right of the head, but it differs in
that it must be preceded by de (4). These
facts lead us to conclude that while preposi-
tions andpostpositionsassign Case directlyto
their complement, substantives do not, since
they require the dummy Case marker de be-
fore a complement. Prepositionalphrases can
modify a head noun directly (5), but postposi-
tional phrases and substantive phrases that
modify a noun must be preceded by de (6),
(7), which leads us to conclude that the lat-
ter two categories can bear Case, while the
former cannot. Prepositionalphrases cannot
occur as the complement of a preposition(8),
althoughboth postpositionalphrases and sub-
stantive phrases are possible here (9), (10),
againsuggesting that the latter two categories
may bear Case, while the former may not.
The syntacticdistributionof quantifiedclauses
also supports the claim that postpositional
phrases and substantive phrases can bear
Case, while prepositional phrases cannot,
since quantifiedclauses headed by the former
two categories may occur in positions of Case
marking(13), (14), while those headed by the
latter cannot (15). Prepositions cannot be
intransitive(they requirean object) (16), while
postpositions and substantives may be either
transitive or intransitive (17), (18). Preposi-
tional phrases cannot modify an unrealized
head noun (19), although both postpositional
phrases and substantive phrases can modify
an unrealized head noun, provided they are
preceded by de (20), (21). Prepositional
phrases and substantive phrases can be rel-
ativized (22), (23), but postpositionalphrases
cannot (24).
Based on these differences, it seems we
can only concludethat the grammarof Spanish
contains three distinct syntactic categories,
prepositions, postpositions, and substantives.
Clearly,it could only help our students were
we to make them consciously aware of their
differences. In concluding, I summarize the
differences between the three categories
which it seems we should point out to our
students:20, 21
 924 HISPANIA 71 DECEMBER1988
PREPOSITION
COMPLEMENT
POSITION follows
enelmar
OBLIGATORY
COMPLEMENT yes
bajo*(el mar)
MODIFIEROF NOUN yes
el regaloparaAna
MODIFIEROF 0 NOUN no
*el 0 paraAna
COMPLEMENTOF no
PREPOSITION *portrasel drbol
1 NOTES
'The category of prepositionis, of course, well estab-
lished in traditionalgrammar.The category of postposi-
tions, too, has been suggested in traditionalanalyses,
although it may not have been referred to by this name.
Accordingto AndrdsBello (1847), Gramdticade la lengua
castellana, with notes by Rufino J. Cuervo, 8th ed.
(Buenos Aires: Sopena, 1970), S. 1182, phrases such as
afuera, adentro,arriba, abajo, adelante, atrds, antes, des-
puss "tomanel caracter, aunque no el lugar de la prepo-
sici6n, posponiendose al nombre ..." AlthoughBello re-
fers to these phrases as adverbs, I have preferred the
term postposition, in view of their resemblance to prepos-
itions, noted by Bello himself. The category of substan-
tive, however, is "new."In Susan Plann, "Substantive:A
Neutralized Syntactic Category in Spanish,"to appear in
Readingsin Spanish GenerativeSyntax (Dordrecht:Foris,
1985), I argue that substantives are "between" nouns
and adjectives. Nouns are characterizedby the syntactic
features [ + N -V], while adjectives are [+ N + V]. Sub-
stantives, I contend, are simply [ + N].
'Accordingto Bello, op. cit., S. 1181,"Laspreposicio-
nes castellanasmis usuales son a, ante, bajo,con, contra,
de, desde, en, entre, hacia, hasta, para,
por, segan, sin,
sobre, tras."There may be reason to question
the status
of entreas a preposition,however (see note 9), andsegun,
although not discussed here, may also be suspect.
?Wenote in passing that the ill-defined category of
"adverb"has traditionallybeen a catch-allfor many ele-
ments with diverse syntactic properties. For example,
the discussion of MarathonMontrose Ramsey (1894), A
Textbookof ModernSpanish, revised by Robert K. Spaul-
ding (New York:Holt Rinehart,andWinston, 1967), chap-
ter XXX, assigns a wide variety of phrases to the cate-
gory of adverb. The criterion for classification is at no
point clearly stated, but it seems to be semantic rather
than syntactic. For instance, phrases like con ligereza,en
el acto, which would surely be analyzed as prepositional
phrases today,are for Ramsey simply"adverbialphrases."
4Typicalof the first position is the classification of
Bello, while the classificationof Ramsey exemplifies the
second position, and that of ModernSpanish, Dwight L.
Bolinger, et al, exemplifies the third.
5In the respective examples of (2)-(4) and throughout
the remainder of this article, 'PrepP' is to be read as
prepositional phrase, 'PostP' as postpositional phrase,
'SP' as substantive phrase. 'NP' is to be read as noun
phrase.
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POSTPOSITION SUBSTANTIVE
precedes follows,requiresde
maradentro dentrodelmar
no no
(rio) abajo debajo(delsofd)
yes, requiresde yes, requiresde
lapuertade atrds lapuertade delante
yes, requiresde yes, requiresde
la 0 de atrds la 0 de delante
yes yes
poratrads pordetrads
(deldrbol)
"The use of the asterisk and parenthesis is to be
interpreted as follows: If the asterisk occurs outside the
parenthesis, inclusion of the parenthesized element is
obligatory (i.e., the example would be ungrammatical
were the parenthesized item to be omitted). If the as-
terisk occurs inside the parenthesis, omission of the
parenthesized element is obligatory (i.e., the example
would be ungrammaticalwere the parenthesizedelement
to be included). Thus '*(X)' means that X must be in-
cluded in order for the example to be grammatical,while
'(*X)'means that X must be omitted. Parenthesizeditems
not accompaniedby an asterisk are optional.
7Central to Case Theory is the Case Filter, which
states that lexical noun phrases must bear Case. Since
substantives cannot assign Case to their noun phrase
complements, Case must be assigned by the dummy
preposition de in examples like (4). For more on Case
Theory, see Noam Chomsky, Lectures on Government
and Binding (Dordrecht: Foris, 1981), and references
cited therein.
"As a counterexamp!e to the generalization that de
does not precede a prepositionalphrase that modifies a
head noun, a reader suggests the following:La gente de
por mi casa son unos vandalos. AlthoughI am unable to
provide an analysis of this example, it is not at all clear
that his is a genuine counterexample to the claim that
prepositionalphrases are not assigned Case (see the text
below). Moreover, it should be borne in mind that not
all prepositionalphrases can modify a head noun, as is
well known. For instance, locative prepositionalphrases
from restrictive relatives with que + estar cannot:
(i) *los papeles en la mesa
(Cf.: los papeles que estdn en la mesa)
(ii) *la casa entre los drboles
(Cf.: la casa que estd entre los Arboles)
See Aurelio M. Espinosa, Jr., and John P. Wonder,"Ex-
presiones locativas... and "The Determiner + Adjective
Phrase in Spanish."
'It may seem that there are occasionalexceptions to
this claim, for example:
(i) Me miraba [Prep desde] [PrepP
entre los arboles]
If the structure of (i) is correct, it would appear that
prepositional phrases can indeed occur as the comple-
ment of a preposition. Note, however, that other prepo-
sitional phrases cannot occur as complement to desde:

(ii) *Me mirabadesde [PrepP tras los arboles]
(Cf.: Me mirabadesde [SPdetris de los arboles])
This suggests that the apparentexceptionalityof (i) may
be due to properties of entre, and not to properties of
desde. Note that unlike(other?)prepositionsbut like post-
positions and substantives, entre is preceded by de in
examples like the following[cf. (5)-(7)]:
(iii) la casa de entre los arboles
But like prepositions and unlike substantives, a noun
phrase complement of entre is not preceded by de [cf.
(2)-(4)]:
(iv) entre (*de) los arboles
Moreover, entre, like true prepositions, cannot be in-
transitive [cf. (16)-(18) in the text below]:
(v) *la casa de entre
Althoughit is generally classified as a preposition, entre
(alongwith a handfulof similarlexicalitems) is also excep-
tional because its noun phrase complement requires
NominativeCase:
(vi) entre {tdiy yo/*ti y mi}
Thus, in spite of the acceptabilityof (i), it seems safe
to maintain that a prepositional phrase cannot be the
complement of a preposition in Spanish, as is stated in
the text. But how to account for the peculiar behavior
of entre is not clear to me, however. Carlos Otero (per-
sonal communication)suggests that it may be that entre
is somehow "drifting"or "unsettled"between the cate-
gories preposition and substantive. This remark recalls
the followingobservationof AndrdsBello (S. 1185):"Mu-
chas preposiciones, y acaso todas, han sido en su origen
palabras de otra especie, particularmentenombres. Y
como esta metamorfosis no ha podido ser instantanea,
sucede a veces que una palabraha perdido en parte su
primitivanaturaleza, y presenta ya imperfectamente, y
como en embri6n, los caracteres de otra, habiendoque-
dado, por decirlo asi, en un estado de transici6n."
Examples such as por de prontoy para con ella (e.g.,
tuviste muchas atenciones para con ella), suggested by
an anonymousreader, wouldalso requirefurtheranalysis.
Whatever analysis proves to be ultimatelycorrect, how-
ever, one point is clear: such constructionsare not freely
generated. Thus, the set phrase para con ella/lell/Ud.,
etc., is grammatical, but *sin con ella, *para por ella,
etc., are clearly impossible. Similarly,por de pronto is
acceptable, but *por de repenteis not. The claim that
prepositionalphrases are not freely generatedas the com-
plement of a preposition still seems to me correct.
'"Theassumption here is that prepositions not only
can assign Case, but must assign Case. This is implied
by the Case Criterionof ManziniandSportiche(discussed
in a graduate seminar taught by Rita Manziniat UCLA,
spring 1984):
(i) Case Criterion
a. If p3is a lexical nominalphrase, there exists an
a such that oa is a Case assigner and a Case
assigns 3p.
b. If a is a Case assigner, there exists a p3such that
p3is a nominalphrase and a Case assigns P3.
Part (a) of the Case Criterionis the familiarCase Filter:
lexical noun phrases must bear Case (see n. 7). Part (b)
says in effect that a Case assigner must assign Case.
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LINGUISTICS: THEORETICAL 925
This may be interpreted to mean that all prepositions
must assign Case, since they belong to the class of Case
assigners. If this is correct, we must conclude that both
postpositionalphrases and substantive phrases can bear
Case, since they can occur as the complementof a prepo-
sition. We must also conclude that prepositionalphrases
cannot bear Case, since they cannot occur as the comple-
ment of a preposition. This impossibilityfollows from the
Case Resistance Principle (CRP) of Timothy Stowell,
Origins of Phrase Structure (MIT doctoral dissertation,
1981), which states that Case cannot be assigned to a
Case assigning category. The fact that prepositions,
whichare themselves Case assigners, cannotbe assigned
Case, accounts for the ungrammaticalityof (8). Since
postpositions and substantives can bear Case, however,
in the examples of (9) and (10) there is no CRP violation
and the results are grammatical.I have no explanation
for the fact that Case can be assigned to postpositions,
which are Case assigners, nor for the fact that Case
assignment by postpositions is optional (see the discus-
sion of transitivityin the text below). Nevertheless, the
remarks of Andr6s Bello cited in note 9 appear to hint
at a possible solution.
"If the analysis of Susan Plann, "Cliusulascuantifica-
das,"to appear in Verba,is correct, the underlyingstruc-
ture of (11a) is something like (i):
(i) Nadie sabe [s Luisa ha salido (PrepPcon los [( e]
hombres)].
'S' in (i) represents the (maximal)clausal complement of
the matrixverb saber,and '[Qe]' represents an unrealized
quantifier. Compare (ii), in which the overt quantifier
muchooccurs:
(ii) Nadie sabe con los muchos hombres que ha salido
Luisa.
As I have noted in the text, a quantifier(be it realized
or unrealized)must occur obligatorilywithin the phrase
that is moved to initial position. This accounts for the
fact that not all prepositional phrases, postpositional
phrases, and substantive phrases can occur in quantified
clauses, since not all such phrases can be quantified.
Consider:
(i) la casa estaba [Qmuy] cerca/lejos
(ii) lo [Qmuy/e] cerca/lejos que estaba la casa
(iii) *El libro estaba [Qmuy] debajo/detrais/encima
(iv) *lo [Q muy/e] debajo/detris/encima que estaba el
libro
(v) La bala habia penetrado muy adentro
(vi) lo [Qmuy/e] adentro que habia penetrado la bala
(vii) *El lipiz estaba muy dentro del caj6n
(viii) *lo [Qmuy/e] dentro del caj6n que estaba el lapiz.
Notice that subject-verb inversion is obligatory in
these constructions (as it is in the example of (12) in the
text as well). For a discussion of this rule in Spanish,
see Esther Torrego.
"Onsmallclauses, see, forinstance, Chomsky(1981),
Stowell (1981), and references cited therein.
':"Itis important to note that these same quantified
clauses are perfectly acceptablein other contexts. Exam-
ple (i) occurs in Bello (S. 1165), and in Ramsey (S. 5.65),
(ii) and (iii) are from Ramsey (S. 5.65), and (iv) is from
Cuervo's notes to Bello (n. 138):
(i) ;De los extravios que es capaz una imaginaci6nexal-
tada!
926 HISPANIA 71 DECEMBER1988
(ii) No quiero referir en las muchas ocasiones que yo le
he prestado ayuda
(iii) La joven ech6 de ver con la insistencia que yo la
miraba
(iv) Mira de la manera que se hila un copo de lana en un
torno.
"See Joan Bresnan.
'See the discussion in Stowell.
'"More accurately, postpositions optionally assign
Case, while substantives can never assign Case, and
requirethe dummyCase markerde before a complement,
as we have seen in (4) above. Recall that the fact that
prepositions must obligatorilyassign Case follows from
the Case Criterion (see note 10).
'7Suchconstructions are discussed in detail in Susan
Plann, Relative Clauses....
'"Notethat when de is a preposition subcategorized
by the head noun, the phrase [repp de NP] is not possible
with an unrealizedhead noun:
(i) la huida de la caircely la huida/*0 de la prisi6n.
Compare (ii), which reveals that huir is subcategorized
for [PrepP NP] and Prep = de:
(ii) Huyeron de la caircely de la prisi6n.
"Substantivephrases not preceded by decannotoccur
as the complement to an unrealized head noun. Such
constructions arise when substantive phrases are rela-
tivized:
(i) la mesa encima de la que habiamos dejadolos libros
y la mesa/*0 encima de la que habiamos dejado las
revistas
(ii) la maceta debajode la que habiamospuesto las llaves
y la maceta/*0 debajode la que habiamos puesto la
sortija.
In this respect, substantive phrases not preceded by de
behave exactly like prepositionalphrases [cf. (19)]:
(iii) la mesa en la que habiamos dejado los libros y la
mesa/*0 en la que habiamos dejado las revistas
(iv) la maceta bajola que que habiamos puesto las llaves
y la maceta/*0 bajola que habiamospuesto la sortija.
2"Inthe light of the criteria presented in this study,
observations on several additionalelements may be in
order. Consider first antes and despues. It is unclear to
me how these two items should be classified, since by
the criteria developed here, they exhibit properties of
both postpositions and substantives. Thus, they can as-
sign Case to an NP to the left of the head, as can post-
positions, but they can also be followedby the phrase de
+ NP, as can substantives:
(i) [NPmuchos afios] antes de [NP la llegadade los euro-
peos]
(ii) [NPvarias decadas] despuds de [NP la Segunda Gue-
rra Mundial].
The reader is once again reminded of the observations
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of Andres Bello, cited in note 9.
The case of the "compoundpreposition"acerca de
may be easier to resolve. When acercade modifies a head
noun, it is not preceded by de, which leads us to conclude
that like prepositionsbut unlikepostpositionsandsubstan-
tives, it does not receive Case:
(i) la charla (*de) acerca de las costumbres de los hin-
dies.
Like prepositions and unlikepostpositions and substanti-
ves, acercade cannotbe intransitive,that is, it obligatorily
assigns Case:
(ii) *la charlaacerca (de).
Moreover, like prepositions and unlikepostpositions and
substantives, acercade cannot modify an unrealizedhead
noun:
(iii) la charlaacerca de las costumbres de los hinddes y
la charla/*0 acerca de las costumbres de los mormo-
nes.
Accordingto the criteria developed in this study, it must
be concluded that acercade is a preposition (cf. cercade,
a substantive).
2'Thanksare due to Professor John P Wonderfor his
thoughtfulobservationson an earlierversion of this work.
N WORKSCITED
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