Morphosyntactic Categories and the Expression of Possession

Editors

Kersti Börjars | University of Manchester

David Denison | University of Manchester

Alan K. Scott | University of Nottingham

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027255822 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027273000 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

The analysis of constructions denoting possession (particularly, but not exclusively, in English) has long presented a challenge to morpho-syntactic theory and has been a topic of debate for some time. The papers presented here afford thought-provoking insights into the morphosyntactic nature of possessive markers under a variety of theoretical frameworks. The distribution of phrases expressing possession is explored in a range of languages (including English, Swedish, Urdu and West Flemish), with rigorous exploitation of corpus data and careful statistical analysis. Descriptions and analyses represent the state of the art in research into possessive constructions. Particular attention is paid to the English possessive ’s, both synchronically and diachronically. This volume is essential for scholars interested in theoretical and corpus-based linguistics, morphosyntactic constructions, and the expression of possession.

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 199] 2013. xii, 341 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.199

Table of Contents

Introduction

Kersti Börjars, David Denison and Alan K. Scott | pp. vii–xii

Dealing with postmodified possessors in early English: Split and group genitives

Cynthia L. Allen | pp. 1–34

Variation in the form and function of the possessive morpheme in Late Middle and Early Modern English

Teo Juvonen | pp. 35–58

The great regression: Genitive variability in Late Modern English news texts

Benedikt Szmrecsanyi | pp. 59–88

Nominal categories and the expression of possession: A cross-linguistic study of probabilistic tendencies and categorical constraints

Catherine O'Connor, Joan Maling and Barbora Skarabela | pp. 89–122

Expression of possession in English: The significance of the right edge

Kersti Börjars, David Denison, Grzegorz Krajewski and Alan K. Scott | pp. 123–148

A cognitive analysis of John’s hat

Richard A. Hudson | pp. 149–176

The oblique genitive in English

John Payne | pp. 177–192

The marker of the English “Group Genitive” is a special clitic, not an inflection

Stephen R. Anderson | pp. 193–218

Two prenominal possessors in West Flemish

Liliane Haegeman | pp. 219–252

A Mozart sonata and the Palme murder: The structure and uses of proper-name compounds in Swedish

Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm | pp. 253–290

Possessive clitics and ezafe in Urdu

Tina Bögel and Miriam Butt | pp. 291–322

References | pp. 323–338

Index | pp. 339–342

“The volume is essential reading for any linguist interested in the morphosyntactic realization of possession. While the overall focus is clearly on English, this is not necessarily a negative: it enables the volume to approach the various issues in English from several distinct angles, while maintaining a manageable set of data. Empirical-statistical, cognitive and theoretical-explanatory accounts add up to render a rather complete picture of the English possessive constructions from a synchronic as well as from a diachronic perspective. In addition, descriptive papers team up to provide insights into other languages' possessive structures as well.”

Sebastian Sulger, University of Konstanz, on Linguist List 24,3673, 2013

Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Order by:

Corbett, Greville G.

2021. Chapter 10. Feature-based competition. In All Things Morphology [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 353], ► pp. 171 ff.

BREBAN, TINE, JULIA KOLKMANN & JOHN PAYNE

2019. The impact of semantic relations on grammatical alternation: an experimental study of proper name modifiers and determiner genitives. English Language and Linguistics 23:4 ► pp. 797 ff.

Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, Emma Moore, Linda van Bergen & Willem B. Hollmann

2019. Categories, Constructions, and Change in English Syntax,

Ackermann, Tanja

2018. From genitive inflection to possessive marker?. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 189 ff.

Braunmüller, Kurt

2018. On the role of cases and possession in Germanic. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 301 ff.

Hoge, Kerstin

2018. Yiddish possessives as a case for genitive case. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 231 ff.

Zimmer, Christian, Horst J. Simon & Tanja Ackermann

2018. Genitives in Germanic. In Germanic Genitives [Studies in Language Companion Series, 193], ► pp. 1 ff.

EHRET, KATHARINA, CHRISTOPH WOLK & BENEDIKT SZMRECSANYI

2014. Quirky quadratures: on rhythm and weight as constraints on genitive variation in an unconventional data set. English Language and Linguistics 18:2 ► pp. 263 ff.

PAYNE, JOHN & EVA BERLAGE

2014. Introduction: new dimensions in genitive variation. English Language and Linguistics 18:2 ► pp. 211 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 18 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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