Shaunak Phadnis

Spanish allows for bare _if_-clauses (BIFs), i.e., _if_-clauses lacking a matrix clause, which display a complex array of meanings different from their stereotypical subordinated counterparts. In this paper, I derive their interpretations through discourse-level interactions, building on exhaustivity inferences associated with intonation, as well as reasoning familiar from so-called _biscuit conditionals_. The key to the analysis is a dynamic view of context that includes a way of tracking proposals that await evaluation (before, e.g., they are accepted/rejected). The view that Spanish BIFs refer back to content awaiting evaluation allows us to integrate the different ingredients involved in the construction of meaning without ad hoc theoretical stipulations.