In Search of Possession:
From Concept to Inflection
Susanne Borgwaldt1 & John Newman2
1Technical
University Braunschweig
2University
of Alberta
Body part morphemes
in Dene Sułine
Body part morphemes
 In some languages, body part
morphemes are bound morphemes.
 Body parts constitute “inherent”
possession.
Payne, T. E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. p. 105
Body part words & words for
clothing in English
 What are the patterns of usage in
English concerning these words
and their human “possessors”?
“Possession”
There is a range of meanings
associated with this word.
We distinguish 4 ways to
understand possession applied to
persons and their body parts.
Possession
“Conceptual”
The possessor referent is identifiable within the
sentence containing the possessee:
Tom was shot in the leg.
The bullet went into Tom’s leg.
I could see the leg of a man under the table.
The bullet was in his leg.
Possession
“Grammatical modification”
the possessor referent appears as some kind of
modifying element within the possessee NP (with
results for all types aggregrated):
my friend’s leg(s)
AND
the leg(s) of my friend
AND
her leg(s)
Possession
“Specific morphological class”
the possessor referent appears as a particular
possessive type within the NP (with results for each
type kept distinct):
my friend’s leg(s)
OR
the leg(s) of my friend
OR
her/their leg(s)
Possession
“Inflectional”
the possessor referent in a particular number/ person
category appears as a possessive determiner with a
possessee:
my leg
OR
my legs
OR
his leg
OR
his legs
Corpora
 MultiSemCor



relatively small (258,499 tokens in 116 texts)
written only (subset of BROWN)
POS tagged and semantically tagged
 BNC




(http://multisemcor.itc.it/index.php)
(accessed through BNCWeb)
relatively large (100 million tokens)
built-in stats
spoken and written
POS tagged, but not semantically tagged
Body parts and clothes in
MultiSemCor
Body part words
52 types and 966 tokens
Clothes words and personal belongings
(watch, glasses)
46 types and 177 tokens for clothes
MultiSemCor
“Conceptual” possession in
MultiSemcor
900
800
700
600
500
400
778
300
200
100
185
135
0
with referent
no referent
Body Parts
Tom was shot in the leg.
The bullet went into Tom’s leg.
I could see the leg of a man
under the table.
The bullet was in his leg.
with referent
Clothes
42
no referent
n.s.
“Conceptual” possession in
MultiSemcor
900
800
700
600
500
400
778
300
200
100
185
135
0
with referent
no referent
Body Parts
with referent
42
no referent
Clothes
Kim had a hat on.
Kim’s hat was cute.
The hat of Kim was cute.
Her hat was cute.
n.s.
“Grammatical modification in NP” in
MultiSemcor
700
600
500
400
300
595
200
368
100
77
100
gram. modified
not gram.
modified
0
gram. modified
not gram.
modified
Body Parts
my friend’s leg
the leg of my friend
her leg
Tom was hit in
the leg
Clothes
“Grammatical modification in NP” in
MultiSemcor
700
600
500
400
300
595
200
368
100
77
100
gram. modified
not gram.
modified
0
gram. modified
not gram.
modified
Body Parts
Clothes
my friend’s cap
the cap of my friend
her cap
Chi-square =
20.65, p ≤0.001
Tom had a cap
on
Conceptual vs. linguistic distance
 Inalienable possession tends to be reflected
in closer linguistic distance between
possessor and the possessed
NP-Possessor
 Alienable possession tends to be reflected in
further linguistic distance between possessor
and the possessed
NP X Possessor
Haiman, J. (1985). Natural Syntax: Iconicity and Erosion. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Section 2.2.
Croft, William. (1990). Typology and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 174-192.
Conceptual vs. linguistic distance
 Hua (Papuan) inalienable possession
r-vari ‘our-sweat’
 Alienable possession
rgaiʔ bodoʔ ‘your loincloth’
Haiman, J. (1985). Natural Syntax: Iconicity and Erosion. CFambridge:
Cambridge University Press. pp. 130-131.
Conceptual vs. linguistic distance
Hua
categorical distinction between alienable and
inalienable possession types (“hard constraint”)
English
distinct tendencies for alienable and inalienable
possession types (“soft constraints”) are seen in the
preferences for possessor outside of NP and inside NP
Possessives by % morphological class
in MultiSemcor
90
80
70
60
50
40
83.1
82.7
30
20
10
13.3
0
Poss.
Det.
's
Body Parts
her leg
my friend’s leg
the leg of my friend
15.6
4
of
1.3
Poss.
Det.
's
Clothes
her cap
my friend’s cap
the cap of my friend
of
n.s.
“Inflectional” possession in BNC
We use the BNC to investigate a particular
person/number possessor with a particular sg/pl
possessed noun
my leg
his leg
her leg
Singular/Plural in the BNC
SINGULAR
NOUN=NN1 in
whole BNC
PLURAL
NOUN=NN2 in
whole BNC
house
47,087
9,134
garden
10,385
3,592
child/children
23,662
45,729
On markedness reversal see:
Tiersma, P. (1982). Local and General Markedness. Language 58 832-49.
BNC ‘head’
head Freq
my
his
her
our
their
LL
1738 9734.09
7198 47440.33
4879 34679.12
36
3.30
143
55.70
heads
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL
2
4
4.14
15.46
250
1130
1580.62
8499.32
BNC ‘head’
head Freq
my
his
her
our
their
LL
1738 9734.09
7198 47440.33
4879 34679.12
36
3.30
143
55.70
heads
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL
2
4
4.14
15.46
250
1130
1580.62
8499.32
BNC ‘mouth’
mouth
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL mouths
374
1899.28
2367
16471.23
1716
13046.38
5
0.81
my
his
her
our
32
6.27
their
Freq
LL
42
205
296.09
1750.80
BNC ‘mouth’
mouth
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL
374
1899.28
mouths
5
0.81
my
his
her
our
32
6.27
their
2367 16471.23
1716 13046.38
Freq
LL
42
205
296.09
1750.80
BNC ‘finger’
finger
Freq
LL
fingers
Freq
LL
my
his
her
our
141
418
274
14
738.44
2285.73
1628.15
24.97
my
his
her
our
286
1221
925
52
1567.78
7963.64
6731.04
183.82
their
20
16.40
their
173
595.60
BNC ‘finger’
finger Freq
LL
fingers
Freq
LL
my
his
her
our
141
418
274
14
738.44
2285.73
1628.15
24.97
my
his
her
our
286
1221
925
52
1567.78
7963.64
6731.04
183.82
their
20
16.40
their
173
595.60
BNC ‘eye’
eye Freq
LL
eyes
my
his
her
our
268
567
336
18
1174.36
2214.31
1410.16
10.70
my
his
her
our
their
45
22.36
their
Freq
LL
1203 6164.39
6075 39500.35
5268 39838.07
286
919.83
892
3109.25
BNC ‘eye’
eye Freq
LL
eyes
my
his
her
our
268
567
336
18
1174.36
2214.31
1410.16
10.70
my
his
her
our
their
45
22.36
their
Freq
LL
1203 6164.39
6075 39500.35
5268 39838.07
286
919.83
892
3109.25
BNC ‘leg’
leg Freq
LL
legs
Freq
LL
my
his
her
our
194
392
161
1
942.68
1683.74
623.18
3.56
my
his
her
our
358
699
738
36
2039.29
3547.69
4827.82
78.83
their
16
1.57
their
195
671.97
BNC ‘leg’
leg Freq
LL
legs
Freq
LL
my
his
her
our
194
392
161
1
942.68
1683.74
623.18
3.56
my
his
her
our
358
699
738
36
2039.29
3547.69
4827.82
78.83
their
16
1.57
their
195
671.97
BNC ‘foot’
foot Freq
LL
feet
Freq
626 3285.40
2030 11509.72
1460 9247.34
131
405.83
my
his
her
our
157
383
210
5
607.75
1404.62
800.24
0.09
my
his
her
our
their
37
21.51
their
660
LL
2829.41
BNC ‘foot’
foot Freq
LL
feet
Freq
626 3285.40
2030 11509.72
1460 9247.34
131
405.83
my
his
her
our
157
383
210
5
607.75
1404.62
800.24
0.09
my
his
her
our
their
37
21.51
their
660
LL
2829.41
BNC ‘hand’
hand Freq
my
his
her
our
their
LL
957 4165.26
3868 20034.12
2616 14978.05
34
1.66
120
24.48
hands
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL
781 4012.78
3322 20383.04
2045 13214.01
277 1103.68
958
4287.74
BNC ‘hand’
hand Freq
my
his
her
our
their
LL
957 4165.26
3868 20034.12
2616 14978.05
34
1.66
120
24.48
hands
my
his
her
our
their
Freq
LL
781 4012.78
3322 20383.04
2045 13214.01
277 1103.68
958
4287.74
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or not
(conceptual possession)
2. Possessor in NP or outside
of NP
(grammatical possession)
3. Possessor is
Poss Det./’s/of
(possession by specific
morphological class)
4. Poss Det (Person/Number)
+ N (Singular/Plural)
(inflectional ppossession)
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or not
(conceptual possession)
2. Possessor in NP or
outside of NP
(grammatical possession)
3. Possessor is
Poss Det./’s/of
(possession by specific
morphological class)
4. Poss Det (Person/Number)
+ N (Singular/Plural)
(inflectional ppossession)
Body parts = clothes
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or
not
(conceptual possession)
Body parts = clothes
2. Possessor in NP or
outside of NP
(grammatical possession)
Body parts ≠ clothes
3. Possessor is
Poss Det./’s/of
(possession by specific
morphological class)
4. Poss Det (Person/Number)
+ N (Singular/Plural)
(inflectional ppossession)
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or not
(conceptual possession)
Body parts = clothes
2. Possessor in NP or
outside of NP
(grammatical possession)
Body parts ≠ clothes
3. Possessor is
Poss Det./’s/of
(possession by specific
morphological class)
Body parts = clothes
4. Poss Det (Person/Number)
+ N (Singular/Plural)
(inflectional ppossession)
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or not
(conceptual possession)
Body parts = clothes
2. Possessor in NP or
outside of NP
(grammatical possession)
Body parts ≠ clothes
3. Possessor is
Poss Det./’s/of
(possession by specific
morphological class)
Body parts = clothes
4. Poss Det (Person/Number)
+ N (Singular/Plural)
(inflectional ppossession)
item by item
Conclusions
 We can understand “possession” in four
different ways: from coarse-grained to finegrained
 All four approaches to possession have their
virtues
 Linguistic typology research can benefit from
exploiting all four ways