Language Patterns
Recurring patterns across languages, space, and time.
Pattern

Possessive marking

Where does “the man’s head” carry its mark?

Two nouns get tied together in five ways: a genitive on the possessor (Latin, Russian, English ’s), a person affix on the possessed noun (Hungarian, Ainu, Navajo), both at once (Turkish, Quechua), a free particle between the two (Japanese の, Mandarin 的, Romance de), or nothing beyond word order (Welsh, Indonesian).

Domain
Possession
Structure
AdpositionCase marking

Strategies

Possessor-marked

[man-GEN] [head]

A genitive case or clitic sits on the possessor. Latin caput virī, Russian голова человека — and English ’s, which leans on the whole possessor phrase: the King of Spain’s daughter.

English · X’s Y Russian · голова человека golova čelovekaLatin · caput virī German · der Kopf des Mannes

Possessee-marked

[man] [head-his]

The possessed noun carries a person affix and the possessor stands beside it unmarked. Hungarian a férfi feje “the man head-his”; Ainu okkayo sapaha; Navajo hastiin bighan “the man his-home”.

Hungarian · a férfi feje Ainu · okkayo sapaha Navajo · hastiin bighan

Double-marked

[man-GEN] [head-his]

Both at once. Turkish adamın başı puts the genitive on the possessor and a person suffix on the possessed; Quechua does the same with -pa and -n.

Turkish · adam-ın baş-ı Quechua · runa-pa wasi-n

Linker particle

[man] [LINK] [head]

A free particle or adposition ties the two nouns without agreeing with either: Japanese の, Mandarin 的, Romance de. The order differs — の and 的 follow the possessor, de leads it.

Japanese · XのY X no YMandarin Chinese · X的Y X de YFrench · Y de X Spanish · Y de X

Juxtaposition

[head] [the man]

No marker at all; a fixed order carries the relation. Welsh pen y dyn “head the man” keeps the article on the possessor only; Indonesian kepala laki-laki itu works the same way.

Welsh · pen y dyn Indonesian · kepala laki-laki itu

Geographic distribution

Each dot is one attested language, coloured by the strategy it uses. Click a dot for the surface form.

Possessor-marked Possessee-marked Double-marked Linker particle Juxtaposition

Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Dark tiles: © CARTO.

Language comparison

LanguageStrategyExpressionNote
English
Indo-European › Germanic
Possessor-markedX’s Y
’s is a phrasal clitic on the possessor phrase: the King of Spain’s daughter
Nichols & Bickel 2013
Russian
Indo-European › Slavic
Possessor-markedголова человека golova čeloveka
genitive case on the possessor, which follows the head
Latin
Indo-European › Italic (historical)
Possessor-markedcaput virī
genitive case; either order occurs
German
Indo-European › Germanic
Possessor-markedder Kopf des Mannes
genitive on article and noun; prenominal des Mannes Kopf survives in names and set phrases
Hungarian
Uralic › Ugric
Possessee-markeda férfi feje
possessor unmarked, person suffix -e/-je on the head; a dative possessor (a férfinak a feje) adds emphasis
Nichols & Bickel 2013
Ainu
Ainu (isolate, critically endangered)
Possessee-markedokkayo sapaha
possessed form -hV/-VhV on body-part, kin and part nouns; alienables use attributive kor instead
Tamura 2000Bugaeva 2012
Navajo
Athabaskan
Possessee-markedhastiin bighan
3rd-person bi- on the possessed noun: “the man his-home”
Young & Morgan 1987
Turkish
Turkic › Oghuz
Double-markedadam-ın baş-ı
genitive -ın on the possessor and person -ı on the possessed, the izafet chain
Göksel & Kerslake 2005
Quechua
Quechuan
Double-markedruna-pa wasi-n
genitive -pa and 3rd-person -n; the genitive’s shape varies across Quechua varieties
Weber 1989
Japanese
Japonic
Linker particleXのY X no Y
Mandarin Chinese
Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic
Linker particleX的Y X de Y
的 drops with kin and close relations
Li & Thompson 1981
French
Indo-European › Romance
Linker particleY de X
Spanish
Indo-European › Romance
Linker particleY de X
Welsh
Indo-European › Celtic
Juxtapositionpen y dyn
the possessed noun drops its article; only the possessor keeps one
King 2003
Indonesian
Austronesian › Malayic
Juxtapositionkepala laki-laki itu
possessed–possessor order with no marker
Sneddon 1996

Examples

Toggle between Natural / Literal / Gloss to see how each language conceptualises the same idea.

“the man’s head”

One phrase across every locus. The genitive languages mark the man, Hungarian, Ainu and Navajo mark the head, Turkish and Quechua mark both, Japanese, Mandarin and French put a particle between the nouns, and Welsh and Indonesian rely on order alone.

English

the man’s head

Natural
the man’s head
Russian · русский

голова человека

golova čeloveka

Natural
the man’s head
Latin · lingua Latina

caput virī

Natural
the man’s head
German · Deutsch

der Kopf des Mannes

Natural
the man’s head
Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

okkayo sapaha

オッカヨ サパハ

Natural
the man’s head
Navajo · Diné Bizaad

hastiin bitsiitsʼiin

Natural
the man’s head
Quechua · Runa simi

runapa uman

Natural
the man’s head
Japanese · 日本語

男の頭

otoko no atama

Natural
the man’s head
Mandarin Chinese · 普通话

男人的头

nánrén de tóu

Natural
the man’s head
French · français

la tête de l’homme

Natural
the man’s head
Welsh · Cymraeg

pen y dyn

Natural
the man’s head
Indonesian · Bahasa Indonesia

kepala laki-laki itu

Natural
that man’s head

References

  1. Bugaeva 2012 01
    Bugaeva, Anna (2012).
    Southern Hokkaido Ainu.
    In Tranter, Nicolas (eds.), The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. 461–509.
  2. Göksel & Kerslake 2005 02
    Göksel, Aslı; Kerslake, Celia (2005).
    Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar.
    Routledge.
  3. King 2003 03
    King, Gareth (2003).
    Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar.
    2nd edition. Routledge.
  4. Li & Thompson 1981 04
    Li, Charles N.; Thompson, Sandra A. (1981).
    Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar.
    University of California Press.
  5. Nichols 1986 05
    Nichols, Johanna (1986).
    Head-marking and dependent-marking grammar.
    Language. 62(1): 56–119. doi:10.2307/415601
  6. Nichols & Bickel 2013 06
    Nichols, Johanna; Bickel, Balthasar (2013).
    Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases.
    In Dryer, Matthew S.; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.), WALS Online (v2020.4), Chapter 24. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https://wals.info/chapter/24
  7. Sneddon 1996 07
    Sneddon, James Neil (1996).
    Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar.
    Routledge.
  8. Tamura 2000 08
    Tamura, Suzuko (2000).
    The Ainu Language.
    ICHEL Linguistic Studies, Vol. 2. Sanseido, Tokyo.
  9. Weber 1989 09
    Weber, David John (1989).
    A Grammar of Huallaga (Huánuco) Quechua.
    University of California Press.
  10. Young & Morgan 1987 10
    Young, Robert W.; Morgan, William (1987).
    The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary.
    Revised edition. University of New Mexico Press.

Related patterns

Corrections

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