Escenas de bienvenida en las comedias de Plauto

The article describes the home‑coming scene in Plautus focusing on the linguistic aspects of the social ritual. It is stated that welcoming the interlocutor who has returned from a long travel consists – as far as the face‑to‑face interaction is concerned – of several communicative steps: summons, two‑part greeting, ‘small talk’ question, invitation to dinner. Special attention is given to the formula salvom te (ad)venire gaudeo, its interactional meaning and contextual variability. Finally, the mechanisms of typical Plautine humour are explained through particular realizations of the home‑coming scene. By way of conclusion, the results of the study are contrasted with the same phenomenon in the comedies by Terence.