Zagimaal Possession
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 18 Nov 2018, 02:39.
[comments] zgmgrammarpossession In genitive constructions in
Zagimaal, the suffix -n/-ṇ (syllabic and non-syllabic allomorphs) is used to mark the construct state on the possessed noun, the possessed noun loses its determiner, and the case of the possessor marks alienability. Alienable possession has the possessor in the oblique case, and inalienable possession has the possessor in the ergative case. And so it looks like this:Alienable:
OBL.determiner [possessor]-OBL [possessum]-case-n
lawk rawik laysṇ
lawk raw-ik lays-Ø-n
DEF.AN.OBL man-OBL knife-ABS-CNS
"The man's knife"
Inalienable:
ERG.determiner [possessor]-ERG [possessum]-case-n
laya rawa ganṇ
laya raw-a gan-Ø-n
DEF.AN.ERG man-ERG spouse-ABS-CNS
"The man's spouse"
With pronominal possession, the alienable works exactly the same (although there is no determiner); but the inalienable is different. The possessum takes a definite determiner which matches it in case and animacy, and the ergative pronoun possessor is then suffixes to the determiner. Thus:
Alienable:
OBL.pronoun.possessor [possessum]-case-n
naw laysṇ
naw lays-Ø-n
1S.OBL knife-ABS-CNS
"My knife"
Inalienable:
DEF.determiner-ERG.pronoun [possessum]-case-n
layno ganṇ
lay-no gan-Ø-n
DEF.AN.ABS-1S spouse-OBL-CNS
"My spouse"
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