Possession in Kuku-Thaypan through a comparative lens

Mary Laughren | University of Queensland

This chapter presents a cross-linguistic study of possession constructions, examining data from Kuku Thaypan (Rigsby 1976), Waanyi and Warlpiri. It acknowledges the distinction between alienable and inalienable possession constructions in the three languages, then focusses more particularly on how kin relation expressions relate to alienable possessor-possessed constructions.The double-marking of the possessor by a referential NP and a co-referring genitive pronoun in Kuku Thaypan is compared with the double marking of the propositus in Warlpiri and Waanyi kin-referring expressions. The relative position of the propositus and possessor elements and the patterns of case-marking are investigated to reveal a distinction between anaphoric and pronominal propositus or possessor constituents.

Published online: 18 February 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.18.09lau

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Cited by 1 other publications

Laughren, Mary & Maïa Ponsonnet

2020. Ear and belly in Warlpiri descriptions of cognitive and emotional experience. Pragmatics & Cognition 27:1 ► pp. 240 ff.

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