Feature GB254: Can predicative possession be expressed with an S-like possessum and a possessor that is coded like an adnominal possessor?

Patrons: Hedvig Skirgård

Description ⇫

Summary

This question concerns predicative possession, i.e. clauses that express an ownership relation between a possessor and possessum. This feature concerns clauses where the possessum is the subject and the possessor is construed as a modifier of the possessum (e.g. my car exists to mean ‘I have a car’).

This type of predicative possessive construction is known as the ‘genitive possessive’ in the work of Stassen (2001, 2013).

Procedure

  1. Find the section on predicative possession.
  2. If no such section exists, search for words like ‘own’, ‘possess’, ‘have’, and ‘belong’.
  3. If there is no information on how predicative possession is expressed in the language, code as ?.
  4. If it is clear that there is a clause type where a possessum is coded as a subject and the possessor is coded as a modifier of the subject, code as 1.
  5. If there are multiple constructions besides this one to express predicative possession, code 1 for this feature and verify whether any of the other constructions are relevant to GB250, GB252, GB253 or GB256.

Examples

Rapa Nui (ISO 639-3: rap, Glottolog: rapa1244)

In Rapa Nui, predicative possession is expressed by a clause stating the existence of the possessed noun. The possessor is encoded as a modifier of the noun. Rapanui is coded as 1 for this feature. In the example below, 'a is the inalienable possessive marker that is also found in attributive possession.

E     ai    rō   ꞌā   te  kona ꞌoka   mahute  ꞌa    Kekepuē  ko    tetu 
IPFV  exist EMPH CONT ART place plant mulberry POSS Kekepue  EMPH  huge
‘Kekepue had a huge plantation of mulberries.’ (Kieviet 2017: 467),

Further reading

Stassen, Leon. 2001. Predicative Possession. In Martin Haspelmath, Wulf Oesterreicher & Wolfgang Raible (eds) Language typology and language universals. 954–960. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Stassen, Leon. 2013. Predicative Possession. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

References

Kieviet, Paulus. 2017. A grammar of Rapa Nui. Berlin: Language Science Press.

Stassen, Leon. 2001. Predicative Possession. In Martin Haspelmath, Wulf Oesterreicher and Raible, Wolfgang (eds.) Language Typology and Language Universals, 2. 954-960. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Stassen, Leon. 2013. Predicative Possession. In: Dryer, Matthew S. & Haspelmath, Martin (eds.) The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.


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0 absent 865
1 present 544
? Not known 762
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Values ⇫

Name Glottocode Family Macroarea Contributor Value Source Comment