A general study on the construction of «locative adverb + tonic possessive»

The construction «locative adverb + tonic possessive» represents a significant grammatical phenomenon in contemporary Spanish, characterized by its variability across dialectal contexts and its contested normative status. Although primarily associated with colloquial registers and discouraged in formal contexts, its widespread usage has garnered considerable attention from linguists. Existing studies, however, tend to focus on isolated elements such as adverbs, possessives, or specific regions, leaving a holistic analysis largely unexplored. This article investigates the presence of this construction in both every day and written Spanish across 20 Spanish-speaking countries, utilizing data from the Web/Dialectos and NOW corpora by Davies. The findings reveal its occurrence in all regions, with higher frequency in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, followed by Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, and Peru, and a more limited presence in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Notable adverbs include alrededor, delante, and detrás, frequently paired with masculine possessives such as mío and suyo, though their feminine forms are also attested. In conclusion, this study positions the construction as a dynamic and evolving linguistic feature, widely accepted among Spanish speakers, and proposes its potential inclusion in grammatical frameworks as a legitimate form under specific contexts.