Re: Types of possession

Hallo!

Jefferson Wilson wrote:

> Now, "hand of mine," "house of mine," and "wife of mine" are all
> going to be different possessives.  What should I call them and
> what other forms of possession should I define?
Many languages distinguish between "alienable" and "inalienable"
possession.  Alienable possessions are things than can be acquired
and given (or taken) away.  Inalienable possessions cannot.
Typical examples of inalienable possession are body parts and
kinship terms.

Of your examples, "house of mine" is alienable possession, while
the other two are inalienable.  (I know that a marriage can be
divorced, of course, but in most cultures, marriages are more or
less thought of as permanent.)

In languages which distinguish alienable and inalienable possession,
inalienable possession often uses a more "tight" construction than
alienable possession.  In Old Albic (my conlang), for example,
alienable possession is expressed by means of the genitive case,
while inalienable possession is expressed either by means of the
locative case or (more commonly) by compounding.

Greetings,

Jörg.

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