Possessive chains and Possessor Camouflage
-
Bernard Comrie
Abstract
In most recursive possessive chains like English the color of the covers of the books and the girl’s father’s house, from knowing the morphosyntax of possessor and possessum in bipartite constructions (the color of the books, the girl’s house), one can predict the morphosyntax of the intermediate possessor (the covers, father): it combines the distinctive properties of possessor and possessum. However, near the eastern and western peripheries of Eurasia, we find two striking instances of “Possessor Camouflage”, whereby intermediate possessors either take on unexpected marking, as in Sakha (Yakut), or lack expected marking, as in the Goidelic languages. Similarities and differences between the Sakha and Goidelic cases are examined against the general background of the typology of possessive constructions.
Abstract
In most recursive possessive chains like English the color of the covers of the books and the girl’s father’s house, from knowing the morphosyntax of possessor and possessum in bipartite constructions (the color of the books, the girl’s house), one can predict the morphosyntax of the intermediate possessor (the covers, father): it combines the distinctive properties of possessor and possessum. However, near the eastern and western peripheries of Eurasia, we find two striking instances of “Possessor Camouflage”, whereby intermediate possessors either take on unexpected marking, as in Sakha (Yakut), or lack expected marking, as in the Goidelic languages. Similarities and differences between the Sakha and Goidelic cases are examined against the general background of the typology of possessive constructions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Expressing ‘possession’ 7
- Predicative possession in revived Cornish 27
- Possessive chains and Possessor Camouflage 51
- On Turkish non-canonical possessives 85
- Predicative possession in South Saami 103
- Predicative possession in Oghuz and Kipchak Turkic languages 125
- Pronominal and adjectival attributive possession in spoken Czech 149
- Predicative possession in North Saami and Norwegian 169
- Possession and ownership in Modern Uyghur 187
- Superlative readings of possessive constructions in Turkic 205
- Possession in Khinalug 239
- A diachronic perspective on alienability splits in Icelandic attributive possession 267
- Grammaticalization of possessive markers in the Beserman dialect of Udmurt 291
- On belonging 313
- Competing possessive constructions in Late Latin documents from Italy 365
- Languages and language families and areas 393
- Name index 397
- Subject index 401
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Expressing ‘possession’ 7
- Predicative possession in revived Cornish 27
- Possessive chains and Possessor Camouflage 51
- On Turkish non-canonical possessives 85
- Predicative possession in South Saami 103
- Predicative possession in Oghuz and Kipchak Turkic languages 125
- Pronominal and adjectival attributive possession in spoken Czech 149
- Predicative possession in North Saami and Norwegian 169
- Possession and ownership in Modern Uyghur 187
- Superlative readings of possessive constructions in Turkic 205
- Possession in Khinalug 239
- A diachronic perspective on alienability splits in Icelandic attributive possession 267
- Grammaticalization of possessive markers in the Beserman dialect of Udmurt 291
- On belonging 313
- Competing possessive constructions in Late Latin documents from Italy 365
- Languages and language families and areas 393
- Name index 397
- Subject index 401
