Re: A bit on Sturnan

----- Original Message -----
From: Christopher B Wright <faceloran@...>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 4:34 PM

> Jesse Stephen Bangs sekalge
> <I would find this more enlightening if you would elucidate the
> difference
> between possessive and genitive in your conlang.  Perhaps one of them is
> also partitive?  What defines the difference?>
>
> Possessive: I currently own a certain item.
> Genitive: It belongs to me in a more tenuous manner.
>
> For instance, "you have Magian's own luck" would use the genitive form of
> Magian (whoever that is). However, "Magian's luck never failed" would use
> the possessive.
Sound much similar to the idea of alienable and inalienable possession in
some natlangs (like Polynesian etc.) In fact, genetive is just an indefinite
marker of interrelationship between two nouns without specifying the kind of
relationship. That's why one can find e.g. in Latin such types of genetive
as subjective G., objective G., possessive G., partitive G., G. of source &
origin etc.

> Chris Wright
Yitzik