Pattern

Possession

How do languages say “I have X”?

Some languages use a transitive HAVE verb; others say “at me, X is”, “to me, X is”, or “I-with X”. The same language often switches strategy with what is possessed — inanimate, animate, kin, body-parts.

语义领域: 存在位置所有
形式结构: 同形现象斜格标记话题标记
机制: 语法化

策略

HAVE-transitive

[I] [have] [X]

A dedicated transitive verb whose subject is the possessor. Typical of European languages and Mandarin 有.

English · I have X French · j'ai X Spanish · tengo X Italian · ho X German · ich habe X Mandarin Chinese · 我有 X wǒ yǒu XVietnamese · tôi có X Basque · X daukat Ainu · X ku=kor

Locational possession

[at/to me] [X] [be / EXIST]

No HAVE-verb. The possessor surfaces as a locative, adessive, or dative phrase, and the possessed item is the subject of an existential or copular predication.

Russian · у меня есть X u menja jest’ XLatin · mihi X est Welsh · mae X gennyf Arabic (MSA) · عندي X ʿindī XHebrew (Modern) · יש לי X yesh li XHindi · मेरे पास X है mere pās X haiFinnish · minulla on X Korean · 나에게 X가 있다 na-ege X-ga issda

Topic possession

[me TOP] [X NOM] [be / EXIST]

The possessor is marked as the topic; the possessed item is the grammatical subject of an existential. Common in Japanese and Korean.

Japanese · 私は X がある / いる watashi wa X ga aru / iru

Existential possession

[EXIST X] [possessor]

The existential predicate carries possession on its own, with no HAVE-verb in the language at all. The possessed item stays inside the existential predicate and the possessor is added as the clause’s subject — Tagalog May pera ako “I have money”, beside subjectless May pera “there is money”.

Tagalog (Filipino) · may X ako / mayroon akong X

Comitative possession

[I] [with] [X]

The possessor is the subject of a comitative or “be-with” predicate. Common in many Atlantic-Congo languages — Swahili fuses the pronoun and the comitative particle.

Swahili · ni-na X

Genitive-existential

[my X] [EXIST]

The possessor is marked on the possessed noun (genitive or possessive suffix); the predicate is an existential. Turkish and Hungarian are textbook examples.

Turkish · benim X-im var Hungarian · van X-em

地理分布

每个圆点代表一个已记录的语言，颜色对应它所采用的策略。点击任意圆点可查看其具体形式。

HAVE-transitive Locational possession Topic possession Existential possession Comitative possession Genitive-existential

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

语言对比

Language	Strategy	Expression	Note
English Indo-European › Germanic	HAVE-transitive	I have X	Stassen 2009
French Indo-European › Romance	HAVE-transitive	j'ai X	Stassen 2009
Spanish Indo-European › Romance	HAVE-transitive	tengo X
Italian Indo-European › Romance	HAVE-transitive	ho X
German Indo-European › Germanic	HAVE-transitive	ich habe X
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	HAVE-transitive	我有 X wǒ yǒu X	same 有 yǒu as the existential Heine 1997
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	HAVE-transitive	tôi có X
Basque Basque (isolate)	HAVE-transitive	X daukat	eduki / *edun: transitive HAVE-verbs; ergative-absolutive agreement on the verb
Ainu Ainu (isolate, critically endangered)	HAVE-transitive	X ku=kor	kor “have, own”; 1SG agent prefix ku=; the verb is clause-final, and prenominal ku=kor X reads as attributive “my X” Tamura 2000
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	Locational possession	у меня есть X u menja jest’ X	at me.GEN EXIST X Stassen 2009 Freeze 1992
Latin Indo-European › Italic (historical)	Locational possession	mihi X est	dative of possessor + copula
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic	Locational possession	mae X gennyf	comitative preposition gan + pronoun suffix
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	Locational possession	عندي X ʿindī X	ʿinda “at, with” + 1SG suffix
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	Locational possession	יש לי X yesh li X	EXIST + dative; the canonical case study for non-HAVE possession Stassen 2009
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	Locational possession	मेरे पास X है mere pās X hai	literally “near me, X is”
Finnish Uralic › Finnic	Locational possession	minulla on X	adessive case on the possessor
Korean Koreanic	Locational possession	나에게 X가 있다 na-ege X-ga issda	dative possessor + existential 있다
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz	Genitive-existential	benim X-im var	genitive possessor + possessive suffix on noun + var Stassen 2009
Hungarian Uralic › Ugric	Genitive-existential	van X-em	van + possessive suffix on the possessed noun
Japanese Japonic	Topic possession	私は X がある / いる watashi wa X ga aru / iru	animate/inanimate split inherited from the existential Clark 1978
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	Comitative possession	ni-na X	ni- (1SG) + -na “with”
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine	Existential possession	may X ako / mayroon akong X	may pera ako “money exists, I” — the same predicate as the subjectless existential may pera, with the possessor added as the ang-phrase. mayroon takes the linker: mayroon akong pera. Schachter & Otanes 1972 Sabbagh 2009

例句

在「自然 / 直译 / 注释」之间切换，对比同一概念在各语言中的不同表达方式。

“I have water.”

A mass-noun possession test. The strategy splits are dramatic: HAVE-transitive in Romance, Germanic, and Mandarin; locational in Russian (у меня есть), Latin, Welsh, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Finnish, Korean; genitive-existential in Turkish and Hungarian; topic in Japanese; comitative in Swahili.

English

I have water.

自然: I have water.

French · français

J'ai de l'eau.

自然: I have water.

Spanish · español

Tengo agua.

自然: I have water.

German · Deutsch

Ich habe Wasser.

自然: I have water.

Mandarin Chinese · 普通话

我有水。

wǒ yǒu shuǐ.

自然: I have water.

Vietnamese · tiếng Việt

Tôi có nước.

自然: I have water.

Basque · euskara

Ura daukat.

自然: I have water.

Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

Wakka ku=kor.

ワッカクコㇿ

自然: I have water.

Russian · русский

У меня есть вода.

U menya yest’ voda.

自然: I have water.

Latin · lingua Latina

Mihi aqua est.

自然: I have water.

Welsh · Cymraeg

Mae dŵr gennyf.

自然: I have water.

Arabic (MSA) · العربية

عندي ماء.

ʿindī māʔ.

自然: I have water.

Hebrew (Modern) · עברית

יש לי מים.

yesh li mayim.

自然: I have water.

Hindi · हिन्दी

मेरे पास पानी है।

mere pās pānī hai.

自然: I have water.

Finnish · suomi

Minulla on vettä.

自然: I have water.

Korean · 한국어

나에게 물이 있다.

na-ege mul-i issda.

自然: I have water.

Turkish · Türkçe

Benim suyum var.

自然: I have water.

Hungarian · magyar

Van vizem.

自然: I have water.

Japanese · 日本語

私は水がある。

watashi wa mizu ga aru.

自然: I have water.

Swahili · Kiswahili

Nina maji.

自然: I have water.

参考文献

Clark 1978 01

Clark, Eve V. (1978).

Locationals: Existential, locative, and possessive constructions.

In Greenberg, Joseph H. (eds.), Universals of Human Language, Vol. 4: Syntax. Stanford University Press. 85–126.
Freeze 1992 02

Freeze, Ray (1992).

Existentials and other locatives.

Language. 68(3): 553–595. doi:10.2307/415794
Heine 1997 03

Heine, Bernd (1997).

Possession: Cognitive Sources, Forces, and Grammaticalization.

Cambridge University Press.
Heine & Kuteva 2002 04

Heine, Bernd; Kuteva, Tania (2002).

World Lexicon of Grammaticalization.

Cambridge University Press.
Sabbagh 2009 05

Sabbagh, Joseph (2009).

Existential sentences in Tagalog.

Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 27: 675–719. doi:10.1007/s11049-009-9083-3
Schachter & Otanes 1972 06

Schachter, Paul; Otanes, Fe T. (1972).

Tagalog Reference Grammar.

University of California Press.
Stassen 2009 07

Stassen, Leon (2009).

Predicative Possession.

Oxford University Press.
Tamura 2000 08

Tamura, Suzuko (2000).

The Ainu Language.

ICHEL Linguistic Studies, Vol. 2. Sanseido, Tokyo.

订正

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策略

地理分布

语言对比

例句

“I have water.”

参考文献

相关模式

订正