Person marking on nominal adpositions (Hungarian)

AdpNNonPM: Person marking cannot be expressed on nominal adpositions.


(1) a ház mellett

the house next_to

‘next to the house’


(2) a ház-nak mellett-e

the house-dat next_to-3sg

‘next to the house’


In Modern Hungarian, the postpositions are not marked for person if their complement is a noun (1). In previous stages of the language, the postposition could take a personal suffix in the third person, if the possessor was in a marked position (2) (cf. Balogh 2000c, Dér 2012, D. Mátai 2003b: 416‒418).

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás