Possessives in Cein

There are three ways of forming possessives in Cein:

1. by juxtaposition
2. by using the genitive particle _o_
3. by using a possessive pronoun

Cein differs between alienable and inalienable possession.
Alienable possession refers to things which are not an inherent
part of you, a possession which can be terminated, such as
'my dog' or 'the girl's book'. Inalienable possession is something
you own inherently, a possession which cannot be terminated, such
as 'my head' or 'the boy's foot'.

In Cein, inalienable possession constructions are also used for
things that are seen as constant over time, such as _nur elen_
'the land of the star', which is also often rendered as a compound:
_elennur_ 'Starland'. What would in English be rendered with an
of-construction is often formed with juxtaposition in Cein: _tol
lug_ 'the island of the dragon'.

Alienable possession is formed by using the genitive particle _o_
(plus soft mutation), where the possessee stands before o and the
possessor after. Examples: _parf o ddi_ 'the woman's book' and
_tol o ra_ 'the lion's island'.

Inalienable possession is formed by simple juxtaposition, where
the possessor follows the possessed item. Examples: _car ddi_
'a woman's head' and _i dawl ddi_ 'the woman's feet'.

Possessive pronouns also have the form possessed item + possessor,
but the definite article must precede the possessed item. When a
possessive pronoun is used, no distinction between alienable and
inalienable possession is made. Examples: _i gar new_ 'my head'
and _i barf sew_ 'his/her book' and _i char endew_ 'their heads'.

Husanw? Thoughts?

||| daniel

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