PossAff~NonAff: The use of personal possessive affixes on the possessed noun is always optional, with no semantic distribution.

(1a) pox ox

boy head

’the boy’s head’ (S. O.)

(1b) pox ox-ǝl

boy head-3sg

’the boy’s head’ (S. O.)

(2a) pox āp

boy dog

’the boy’s dog’ (S. O.)

(2b) pox āmp-ǝl

boy dog-3sg

’the boy’s dog’ (S. O.)

In Synja Khanty, it is optional to reflect the person of the possessor on the possessed entity, if the possessor is expressed by a noun phrase (cf. Abondolo 1998: 378–379, Honti 1984: 90–91, Nikolaeva 1999a: 79–84).