Nick Lyons Secondary- English

Unit 16.

The Expression of Possession

1. Introduction

2. The Verb Phrase

3. Determiners

4. Pronouns

5. The 'Genitive' and postmodified Of Constructions

5.1 Morphology

5.2 Phonology

5.3 Semantic Classification

5.4 Syntax. The ‘s genitive and ‘of constructions

6. Conclusion

7. Bibliography

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Unit 16. The Expression of Possession

1. Introduction

Possession, in the context of linguistics, is an asymmetric relationship between two

constituents, the possessor and the head noun (the person or thing possessed). The category of
possession includes a wide number of sub-types, of which the most prototypical are perhaps part-
whole (my left foot), ownership (our house), and kinship relations (Jane’s sister). Other less central
types include unowned possession (the dog’s basket) a mental quality (her sense of humour), a
physical quality (his strength) occupancy (his office) and an association with another person (my
friends).

Possession may be marked in many ways, which we will look at in this unit, from the relatively
easily understandable possessive determiners and pronouns, through to the more difficult choice
to be made between possessive enclitic morpheme ('s) and a construction linking two referents
with the preposition ‘of’. During the course of the study the notion of possession will be analysed
with respect to four relevant fields: morphology, phonology, syntax and semantics. We will start
with the easily identifiable semantic set of verbs used to denote possession.

2. The Verb Phrase

Verbs can indicate possession in a more direct way since they do not need any other
grammatical category to express ownership. Within this grammatical category we can distinguish,
first, between those verbs which are strictly possessive, semantically speaking, among which we
may differentiate between transitive and intransitive verbs; and second, those verbs which are not
strictly possessive but their meaning relates somehow to the notion of possession.

In order to clearly and simply denote ownership, there are various verbs at our disposal which
are strictly possessive, of which possess is of course one. It’s use however is rather formal, and will
therefore most commonly be replaced by own, belong to, have got or have. (i.e. My brother
owns/has got/has a Ferrari/ the house belongs to my brother). Verbs of acquisition such as obtain,
acquire, find also have a more indirect, but nevertheless inherent, possessive meaning. There are
other verbs which more indirectly suggest a feeling of possession, such as enjoy, hold, boast (i.e.
the are enjoying good weather = they are having good weather/ Newcastle boasts amazing
nightlife/ my lawyer holds the deeds) Semantically, also included in the category of possessing are

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the notion of not possessing (lack, need), of being worthy to possess (deserve) and the abstract
relations of inclusion, exclusion and containment (include, exclude, contain). We should bear in
mind that all of them are transitive verbs (i.e. have (got), own, possess, keep, obtain) except for
‘belong to’.

3. Determiners

What are traditionally and popularly called possessive adjectives are a part of speech that
prototypically modifies a noun by attributing possession to someone or something. There are
seven of these in modern English: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. All of them indicate
definiteness, like the definite article the. They allow us to reference something in a sentence in
roder to avoid repetitions, allowing us for example to say "the girl took off her glasses" instead of
"the girl took off the girl's glasses.

They agree with the ‘possessor’ but not with the person or thing ‘possessed’. Hence, we find in
English three forms for a third person singular possessor: his (reference to a masculine possessor),
her (reference to a feminine posessor) and its (reference to an animal or thing possessor), but only
one form for all other possessors; my, your, our, their.

One’s may also be considered a possessive determiner, but is uncommon in spoken English.
Most of the population will prefer to use your, regarding the use of one as aloof. The spelling of its
should also be noted. After a plural possessive, we do not usually use a singular noun in the sense
of ‘one each’ (i.e) The teacher told the children to open their books rather than open their book.

These items fills a slot in the noun phrase equivalent to a central determiner such as the, thus
they cannot co-occur with another determiner such as an article or a demonstrative. Likewise,
other determiners like a, this, that cannot be used together with my. It is for this reason that they
are, strictly speaking, possessive determiners.

she has lost the her keys

A my friend

that your brother

Regarding the use of the articles, it should be pointed out that articles can sometimes be used
instead of the possessive determiners. This happens in prepositional phrases which refer to the
subject or object, mostly when we are talking about blows, pains and other things that happen to

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parts of people’s bodies: I patted her on the shoulder / She’s got a pain in the shoulder. In other
cases the possessives are used (He stood there his eyes closed and his hand in his pockets looking
half asleep/)

The emphatic determinative own can be used after a possessive determiner: He cooks his own
dinner.

The possessive determinatives also include the inflected ‘s genitive form, but we shall look at
this form in more detail later in this unit.

4. Pronouns

The strong forms of the possessives determiners outlined it the previous session are mine,
yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs. These are traditionally known as "possessive pronouns". They
are used independently (i.e. Mine is broken; can I use yours?)

A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that attributes ownership to someone or something.

Like all other pronouns, it substitutes a noun phrase and can prevent its repetition. For example, in
the phrase, "These glasses are mine, not yours", the words "mine" and "yours" are possessive
pronouns and stand for "my glasses" and "your glasses," respectively.

As for possessive adjectives, they agree in number and gender with the possessor but not with
the person or thing possessed(i.e. This is Jane’s hat=This hat is hers).

In addition to the above pronouns we could mention the antiquated possessive pronoun
thy/thine. The enclitic -'s also works as a possessive pronoun such as Jack's, which we shall see
later in the unit.

They can be used in all the main functions where a noun phase is possible: Yours is better
(subject), this is yours (subject complement), I let him borrow yours (object), I parked behind theirs
(Prepositional complement), I painted my walls red but his blue (object complement).

Possessive pronouns do not admit the definite article the as in Spanish. Indeed, since in English
the possessive determiners cannot co-occur with an article, there are some special structures,
such as the sequence of and a possessive pronoun’ (This is a good friend of mine) and the
sequence of with a possessive adjective and noun (This is one of my friends)

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Whose is used both as a determiner and a pronoun in questions (i.e. Whose bag is that? /
Whose is that bag?) As a relative possessive word it is used together with nouns in relative clauses
such as I have a friend whose dog destroys the house when he is away.

Instead of whose, of which can be used to refer to things, and it is sometimes preferred. The
word order is normally noun with of which, such as in I have scheduled this meeting, the purpose
of which... / that song, the name of which I’ve completely forgotten, has recently been rereleased.

5. The 'Genitive' and postmodified Of Constructions

In universal grammar, the genitive case is the case that marks a noun as modifying another
noun. It often marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun but it can also indicate various
relationships other than possession as mentioned above, and is therefore not the same as the
possessive case, which only refers to possession. Although, as we have seen, the personal
pronouns do have distinct possessive forms, it is questionable whether modern English does not
typically mark nouns for a genitive case morphologically – rather, it uses the apostrophe ’s or a
preposition (usually of). Thus, the categorization of the ‘s as the genitive case is disputed, some
grammars contend that this affix is not a case ending in the sense which applies to languages such
as Latin, Russian and German. They claim it is actually an “enclitic postposition”, and that its
function is parallel to that of a preposition, except that it is placed after the noun possessor. This
view is acceptable if we take into account the so-called group genitive, in which the genitive
ending is affixed to a postmodifier. In 'the teacher of music’s room' obviously, the possessor in this
example is the teacher, not the music. On the other hand, In Old English, a common singular
genitive ending was -es. The apostrophe in the modern possessive marker is said by other to be in
fact an indicator of the ‘e’ that is "missing" from the Old English morphology. Despite its problems
of categorization, and the various labels we name it by, we will refer to it as the 'genitive' and will
now go on to describe its use on a morphological, phonological, syntactical and semantic level.

5.1. Morphology

When we are dealing with only one ‘possessor’, the structure is as follows: ‘possessor’ + ‘s + the
person or thing ‘possessed’ (i.e. Mary’s sister). Moreover, there are some general considerations
to follow when we add the possessive ‘s’ . Firstly, the ‘s is used with singular nouns and plural
nouns not ending in –s (i.e. a man’s job, men’s work). However, we use a simple apostrophe (‘) or
the zero genitive (Quirk) with plural nouns, usually common ones, already ending in –s (i.e. the

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eagles’ nest) as well as with classical names (i.e. Sophocles’ plays) and some fixed expressions (for
goodness’ sake) However, sometimes other names ending in –s can take ‘s or the apostrophe
alone (i.e. Charles’s shirt or Charles’ shirt).

Moreover, there are some general considerations to follow, such as when names consist of
several words. In this case only the last word takes the ‘s (i.e. my mother-in law’s will). Similarly,
when more than two possessors are joined by the conjunction and, only the last word takes the
possessive ‘s (i.e. Peter and Susanne’s house). Finally we could note that the possessive ‘s can also
be used after initials (i.e. the PM’s secretary).

5.2 Phonology

The ‘s genitive is only distinguished phonetically when used with singular possessors, taking one
the form /iz/, /z/, /s/ depending on the preceding sound. Thus, if the genitive ‘s is preceded by
voiceless sounds as in Pat’s, Quirk’s, wife’s, it is pronounced /s/. If the genitive ‘s is preceded by
voiced sounds as in Bob’s, dad’s, bath’s, bag’s, it is pronounced /z/. Finally, if the genitive ‘s is
preceded by sibilant sounds as in chess’ it is pronounced /iz/.

5.3 Semantic Classification of the Genitive.

Genitive meanings may be classified according to semantic considerations, which is the focus of
this section of the study. We will provide paraphrasing to illustrate the differences.

The possessive genitive is that which is paraphrased with the verbs own and so on. For
instance, Jane’s summer house (Jane owns a summer house).

The attributive genitive expresses the attributes of the referent such as the woman’s courage or
the car’s brakes or the dog’s tail paraphrased by have (the woman has courage the car has brakes
and the dog has a tail)

The subjective genitive paraphrases the possessor as the subject of a verb phrase. For instance,
the boy’s application form (the boy applied for the job) Napoleon’s army (Napoleon commanded
an army) or Napoleon’s mistake (Napoleon made a mistake).

The objective genitive paraphrases the noun of the genitive as the object of the sentence. For
instance, Napoleon’s defeat (someone defeated Napoleon).

Quirk highlights the descriptive genitive, which includes the following meanings
(Downing). A locative or temporal genitive may express otherwise adverbial relationships such as

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Europe’s chief cities or today’s paper paraphrased respectively as the chief cities in Europe, the
paper published today. The classifying genitive, as in girls’ names (names for girls) or a lawyer’s
job (the job of a lawyer a women’s college (a college for women).

The partitive denotes partition as ‘parts of a whole’, where the noun preceding the genitive
indicates the whole part and the noun after it indicates the specific part of the division (i.e. the
brain’s two hemispheres). The genitive of measure indicates measure regarding time, height,
weight, distance, value, such as in two weeks’ break or five pounds’ worth.

The genitive of origin, as its names indicates, addresses directly to the origin or source of the
noun preceding the genitive, as in your grandmother’s letter or the sun’s rays paraphrased by the
letter from your grandmother or the rays from the sun.

5.4 Syntax. The ‘s genitive and ‘of constructions

In English, the expression of possession is shown as we have seen by the genitive ‘s or by means
of the of-phrase structure. In many instances there is a similarity of function and meaning
between a noun in the genitive case and the same noun as head of a prepositional phrase with –
of: The arrival of the coach / the coach’s arrival.

We have already seen the many uses of the possessive ‘s construction on a phonological,
morphological and syntactical level. As we have seen, the central function of the ‘s phrase is to
specify the referent, as in that girl’s name. However, some ‘s noun groups may also function as
classifiers, as in girls’ names. Thus, the genitive 's may function in the noun phrase as determiners
when specifying (i.e. that girl’s name) or premodifiers where they have a classifying role (i.e. girls’
names). The genitive of-phrase functions in the noun phrase as a postmodifier being placed after
the head (the hut of an old shepherd).

There are, however, other different cases such as the genitive with ellipsis. Sometimes the
noun that is modified by the –s genitive may be omitted if the context makes its identity clear. We
may distinguish two cases: first, the ellipsis of the noun when its reference is contextually clear
and, second, when the unexpressed item refers to homes or businesses, usually known as ‘local
genitive’ (He has a car like John’s or you can find me at Tom’s tonight (where Tom lives) or I am
going to the butcher’s.

The double genitive, also known as the post-genitive, refers to an of-phrase which can be
combined with an –s genitive construction (One of my best friend’s sisters).

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The group genitive refers to those cases in which, in some postmodified noun phrases it is
possible to use an –s genitive by affixing the inflection to the final part of the postmodification
rather than to the head of the noun itself. Thus, ‘the teacher’s book’ vs. ‘the teacher of History’s
book’. Hence, the noun phrase is constituted by premodifier (the teacher of History) + ‘s + the
head (book). This group genitive is regularly used with such postmodifications as in someone else’s
car.

5.4 The Genitive 's and the of-genitive

Although in many cases the two forms are equivalent in meaning and both are perfectly
acceptable, in other cases, either the genitive or the of-construction is the only appropriate choice
(i.e. John’s school, the front of the house). In this section we shall start by looking at the semantic
and syntactic considerations which guide such a choice.

To start with, the –s genitive is not used with all nouns equally. The decision often depends on a
variety of considerations, of which the principle is that animate and inanimate nouns. In general,
we could say that personal nouns are animate and non-personal nouns are inanimate, and that
animacy favours the ‘s genitive construction whereas lack of animacy favours the of-construction
or compounding: the man’s legs, the legs of the chair, the chair legs.

Thus, the possessive ‘s construction is favoured with personal names (i.e. Beethoven’s house),
personal nouns (i.e. the boy’s new computer), collective nouns (i.e. the police’s meeting) and
higher animals (i.e. the horse’s tail).

However, the inflected genitive is also used with certain kinds of inanimate nouns, such as
geographical and institutional names (i.e. Asia’s future), temporal nouns (i.e. today’s lunch),
measurement expressions of time (i.e. in two years’ time) and distance (i.e. at a stone’s throw),
and nouns of special interest to human activity (i.e. the brain’s total weight).

The of-genitive is chiefly used with nouns that belong to the category of inanimate nouns (the
title of the book), but this does not exclude the possibility of the book’s title.

There are however, other important considerations, such as when the choice of genitive
emerges from information focus or end-weight. The–s genitive enables us to give end-focus to
one noun and the of-genitive to another. Thus, an absence of three years emphasizes the duration
of the absence, whereas a three years’ absence places the focus on the absence. We also need the

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of-genitive when the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or clause (I took the advice of a
couple I met in the street).

6. Conclusion

In this unit we have seen a variety of ways that language can be used in order to express
possession. In this respect, we have provided a descriptive account of the expression of
possession.

It is evident that an important part of being creative in a foreign language and improving the
quality of the learners’ utterances will depend on the correct use of the expression of possession.
Whilst some of the points made in this unit are relatively easily taught, others will undoubtedly
demand substantial practice. It is therefore clear that if our learners are to make real headway in
the language, much exposure to and practice with the devices in this unit is needed across all four
skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking, precisely the type of exposure and practice that
students are offered under current communicative methodology.

7. Bibliography

Quirk, R. et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman, London. 1972.

Swan, M. OUP, Practical English Usage. Oxford 1995

Crystal, D. An Encyclopaedia of the English Language, CUP, Cambridge. 1995

Downing. A & Locke. P. English Grammar: A University Course

Close, R.A. A Reference Grammar for Students of English. Longman.

Quirk. R & Greenbaum. S. A University Grammar of English. Longman.

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