Thursday, December 16, 2010

Clarification of pronominal possession strategies

Reading Describing Morphosyntax on the train this morning, I realized what's been going on in my brain all along with the two possible structures for pronominal possession (talking about ni mama vs ka mama ni for "my mother"): I'm pretty sure it's a question of inalienable vs alienable possession.

I don't think I would necessarily prescribe this usage, but it makes sense typologically (alienable possession typically takes more morphology), and perhaps is even a little intuitive. I might explain it in terms of "pronoun + noun" being more inherent, more basic possession: family, body parts, home, language, etc.

And of course, as always, there's no clear line dividing the alienable and the inalienable. It would never be wrong to use either of them in any situation. But I think it's a useful shading to have, and might make speakers coming from that kind of linguistic background feel more comfortable.

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