Habitive constructions

Habitive constructions, also referred to as predicative possession (PredPoss), are possessive constructions with the meaning ‘someone has something.’ The construction is generally composed of three parts: the possessor, the possessed (or possessee), and a grammatical item, or items1, expressing the fact of possession. The topic of the sentence is the possessor.2 Sentences for consideration must fulfill the following three criteria:

a)    Both the possessor and the possessed noun appear as nouns.3

b)    The sentence involves alienable possession.

c)     If a language has multiple constructions available for the expression of possession, the sentence displays the most common strategy.

Types:

PredPossTrns: The possessor is the functional and/or grammatical subject,4 the possessed is the direct object, of a transitive verb expressing possession. These verbs can often be traced back to words referring to physical inspection or handling. This type is known as the ‘have’ possessive. 5

PredPossLoc: The possessed is the functional and/or grammatical subject, the verb is intransitive, and the possessed appears as a locative adverbial (answering the question Where?).6

PredPossLat: The possessed is the functional and/or grammatical subject; the verb is intransitive, and the possessor appears in a lative or dative form (the form used to answer the question To where? or To whom?).7

PredPossGen: The possessed is the functional and/or grammatical subject, the verb is intransitive, and the possessor appears in a non-locative, non-lative form (the form used to answer the question Whose?). This is often the same as the adnominal form of the possessor in possessive constructions, frequently the genitive.8

PredPossTop: The possessed is the functional and/or grammatical subject, the verb is intransitive, and the possessor appears as the grammatical topic of the sentence.9

PredPossConj: The possessor is the functional and/or grammatical subject, the verb is intransitive, and the possessed is marked by a subordinating morpheme; this morpheme often carries the meaning ‘with’10 or may be derived from words meaning ‘too,’ ‘and,’ ‘at the same time,’ ‘when,’ ‘during,’ or ‘simultaneously.’ 11

PredPossPred: The possessor is the functional and/or grammatical subject, no special verb form denotes possession, and the possessed is the predicate of the sentence (with or without a copula).12

+SpecPssd: The possessed appears in a special form. (For example, it may appear with a personal possessive marker.)

When a language displays more than one strategy, multiple values can be listed. If one strategy is dominant, a slash (/) can separate the two values, with the dominant value appearing first; if neither is dominant, they are listed with an ampersand (&) separating the two. The value +SpecPssd can only appear alongside (following) another value.

 

1 This grammatical item may be a verb, copula, pronoun, etc.

2 Habitive constructions, which always feature the possessor as the topic, should not be confused with substantival possessive constructions (‘something is someone’s’), of which the topic is the possessed.

3 Additional grammatical strategies may also mark the possessed/possessor.

4 The functional subject appears in the form used for agents of transitive verbs of conscious, willful action. If the functional subject appears in the same form as the argument of an intransitive verb, it is simultaneously the grammatical subject.

5 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “the possessor possesses the possessed.”

6 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “at the possessor is the possessed.”

7 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “to the possessor is the possessed.”

8 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “the possessor’s is the possessed.” The commentary should specify whether the possessor appears in the same form as it does in adnominal possession. If the latter is essentially the same as the locative or lative, the language should be classified as PredPossOblLoc or PredPossOblLat, and any disagreements over its classification (for example, whether the locative or lative form should be understood as a genitive) should be mentioned in the commentary.

9 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “with respect to the possessor, there is the possessed.”

10 For this reason, this structure has also been termed with-possession.

11 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “the possessor is with the possessed” or “the possessor and the possessed are together.”

12 From a semantic perspective, this can be represented as “the possessor: possessed.” The presence of a copula is often used to determine whether such constructions are habitive (“someone has something”) or adnominal (“someone’s something”). In languages that do not have a copula, this must be determined by contextual or pragmatic cues.