Appendix:English nouns with restricted non-referential interpretation in bare noun phrases

Certain English nouns can be used as head of noun phrases anarthrously, ie, without a determiner or article, in a use which can give them a distinct meaning.

Role nouns

Nouns that indicate a role can optionally appear without determiner or article as object of certain prepositions following nouns like role, part, position and as complement of certain verbs (eg, be, become, appoint, elect); but not as subjects or objects. The same nouns can also appear with determiner or article with the same meaning.

He played the part of tough guy in the negotiation.

*Tough guy was involved in the negotiation.

He became Underassistant West Coast Promo Man for the record company.

*The record company fired Underassistant West Coast Promo Man.

She served as president for two terms.

*President served for two terms.

Certain everyday frames

Certain activity-locations, indications of status, means of transport, media of communication, meals, times, and repeated and matched nouns cannot accept determiners in certain uses. The meaning of some of the words is subtly different from its meaning when it can be used with an article or determiner. In other cases, the word appears in a fixed expression, often with idiomatic meaning.

Prepositional phrases provide a way of searching for such usages. The variety of prepositions is large:

temporal: before, during, after, at, by, until

spatial: in, into, on, to, from, out of, up, down, at

status: in, on, off, under, at

Idiomaticity

This is a realm that seems to productively generate prepositional phrases that are idioms and near-idioms. The most clearcut cases are those where only one prepositional phrase contains a sense of the noun that does not appear to occur as bare noun in any other prepositional phrase, let alone as subject, object or predicate. A somewhat weaker case exists for senses that occur with a small number of prepositions. In addition, there seem to be cases where a novel metaphorical or purely idiomatic interpretation has arisen that does not fall within the other classes discussed below.

Activity-locations

hospital (UK usage): in hospital
school: to school, from school, in school, into school, out of school
college
university
stage: off stage, on stage, up stage, down stage
bed: to bed, from bed, into bed, out of bed, in bed
town: to town, from town, in town, into town, out of town
work: to work, from work, at work, after work, during work, before work
church: to church, at church, from church, into church, out of church, in church
prayer, prayers, vespers, mass, communion, service, chapel, synagogue

Status indications

Not all of these are true status indicators. The prepositional phrases may not be uses of a status-indicator sense of the word.

air: on air (PP), off air
arrest: under arrest (PP)
bankruptcy: in bankruptcy
base: on base (PP), off base (PP)
call: on call (PP)
Chapter XI:
check: in check (PP)
condition: in condition (PP), out of condition (PP), into condition, on condition (PP)
duty: on duty (PP), off duty (PP), from duty, for duty, to duty
file (storage): in file, on file (PP) new MW, out of file
file (line): in file, out of file
foreclosure: in foreclosure
hiatus: in hiatus
hock#Etymology 3: in hock, out of hock, on hock
hold: on hold
indictment: under indictment
inventory: in inventory, from inventory, into inventory
line: on line (PP), off line, out of line (PP)
notice: on notice
offer: on offer (PP) UK
office: in office (PP), out of office
order: (different senses) in order (PP), out of order, on order
pause: on pause
parole: on parole, off parole
place: in place, into place, out of place
post: on post, off post
power: in power (PP), out of power, from power, into power
quarantine: in quarantine
record: on record (PP) MW
report: on report (PP) new MW
review: under review
sale: on sale (PP) US
sentence?: under sentence?
service: in service, out of service, into service, from service
shape: in shape, out of shape, into shape
speaker: on speaker
station: on station, off station
standby: on standby
stereo: in stereo
stock: in stock, out of stock, from stock, into stock
season: in season, out of season
session: in session, out of session, into session
target: off target (PP), on target (PP)
transit: in transit
time: on time, in time (PP)
trial: on trial
trouble: in trouble (PP), into trouble, out of trouble
waiting?: in waiting?

Many words can be used as indicating a kind of status in some contexts. The US military provides many examples: in country; with leave/without leave; on station. Law also provides them, as well as sports.