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Predicative Possession
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(Predicative Possession) |
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Whose bone? (in their possession) | Whose bone? (in their possession) | ||
==Predicative Possession== | |||
===Standard Intransitive Construction=== | |||
To say "A has B" in Thangha', the standard way is for A (the possessor) to appear at the start of the sentence as a topic (in the absolutive case), followed by the verb /ˈdaʔa/ - "to exist", taking the atelic prefix /ʎə-/, becoming /ʎə-ˈdaʔa/. Finally, the possessed noun appears, also in the absolutive case. For example: | |||
/kʷəʔˈta ʎə-ˈdaʔa ˈʀʷəʔtʷəʔ/ | |||
[kʷʊˈtːa ʎɪˈdaʔa ˈʁʷɔtːʷʊʔ] | |||
dog.TOP ATEL-exist bone.ABS | |||
The dog has a bone. | |||
===Transitive Construction=== | |||
The above is the most common way to express predicative possession in Thangha', treating /ˈdaʔa/ as an intransitive verb. However, the language is undergoing a process of "have-drift", due to contact with [[North-East Antarctican]] (which has a transitive verb just like English "have"). Recently, many speakers have begun to use the above construction interchangeably with a second construction, where the possessor is in the ergative case: | |||
/kʷəʔˈta-ɟa ʎə-ˈdaʔa ˈʀʷəʔtʷəʔ/ | |||
[kʷʊˈtːæ-ɟæ ʎɪˈdaʔa ˈʁʷɔtːʷʊʔ] | |||
dog-ERG ATEL-have bone.ABS | |||
The dog has a bone. | |||
Speakers tend to use the transitive construction when they wish to put focus on the possessor i.e. in the above case, emphasise that it is the dog that has the bone, and not a cat / human etc. that has the bone. Speakers also use the transitive construction when they wish to topicalise the possessed noun e.g. | |||
/ˈʀʷəʔtʷəʔ kʷəʔˈta-ɟa ʎə-ˈdaʔa/ | |||
[ˈʁʷɔtːʷʊʔ kʷʊˈtːæ-ɟæ ʎɪˈdaʔa] | |||
bone.TOP dog-ERG ATEL-have | |||
The bone belongs to the dog. | |||
However, /ˈdaʔa/ has not yet become a fully fledged transitive verb. For example, unlike other transitive verbs, it cannot take an antipassive prefix to become */ʎama-ˈdaʔa/. | |||
===With Pronouns=== | |||
When a pronoun is the possessor, it takes the agentive case if the possession is alienable, and the patientive case if the possession is inalienable e.g. | |||
/ˈʔəʔkʷa ʎə-ˈdaʔa ˈʀʷəʔtʷəʔ/ | |||
[ˈʔʊkːʷa ʎɪˈdaʔa ˈʁʷɔtːʷʊʔ] | |||
1PS.SG.AGT ATEL-have bone | |||
I have a bone (e.g. I'm holding it). | |||
/ˈʔacəⁿ ʎə-ˈdaʔa ˈʀʷəʔtʷəʔ/ | |||
[ˈʔæceⁿ] ʎɪˈdaʔa ˈʁʷɔtːʷʊʔ] | |||
1PS.SG.PAT ATEL-have bone | |||
I have a bone (e.g. in my body). | |||