Feature GB431: Can adnominal possession be marked by a prefix on the possessed noun?

Patrons: Hannah J. Haynie

Description ⇫

Summary

This feature targets a specific type of adnominal possessive construction, namely one where possession is marked by a prefix or proclitic on the possessed noun. In some cases, the morpheme that marks possession indexes agreement categories of the possessor. Crucially, the possession must be marked by an element that precedes and is phonologically bound to the possessed noun.

Procedure

  1. Code 1 if there is an adnominal possessive construction marked by any element which is phonologically bound to the possessed noun, and which precedes that noun.
  2. Code 0 if there is no adnominal possession construction in which a prefix or proclitic on the possessed noun marks possession.
  3. Code 0 if the only relevant adnominal possession construction is marked only by tone, not by a prefix or proclitic.

Examples

Nanti (ISO 639-3: cox, Glottolog: nant1250)

a. i-banko  
3SG.M-house  
‘his house’ (Michael 2012: 151)

b. i-banko     Ihonira  
3SG.M-house Ihonira 
‘Ihonira’s house’ (Michael 2012: 151)

c. irashi     i-banko  
3SG.M.POSS 3SG.M-house  
‘his house’ (Michael 2012: 152)

d. i-gemari-te  
3SG.M-tapir-ALIEN.POSS  
‘his tapir’ (Michael 2012: 152)

Inalienable possession in Nanti is expressed by a prefix on the possessed noun that indicates the person, number and gender of the possessor. A nominal possessor or possessive pronoun may also be included in the phrase. Nominal possessors follow the possessed noun in unmarked constructions. They may appear to the left of the possessum when they are in contrastive focus. Pronominal possessors occur to the left of possessed nouns. Alienable possession uses the same prefixes as inalienable possession, but also includes an alienable possession suffix on the possessed noun. Nanti would be coded 1 because it has a possessive construction that uses a prefix on the possessed noun to mark the possession relationship (see Michael 2012: 151–152).

Further reading

Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. & R. M. W. Dixon (eds). 2013. Possession and ownership: A cross-linguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Baron, Irène, Michael Herslund & Finn Sørensen (eds). 2001. Dimensions of possession. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

References

Michael, Lev. 2012. Possession in Nanti. In Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. & R. M. W. Dixon (eds), Possession and ownership, 149–166. Oxford University Press.


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0 absent 1475
1 present 390
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Values ⇫

Name Glottocode Family Macroarea Contributor Value Source Comment