* THE USE OF POSSESSIVE FORMS

-two special syntactic constructions-

a. Using the possessive determiners

b. Possessive pronoun

Ex.

Philip is one of our friends

Philip is a friend of ours

NOUNS MARKED WITH THE POSSESSIVE INFLECTION

-two main uses-

a. They may be definite determiners

Ex. My cousin’s father

Some people’s opinions

b. They may be modifier more closely associated with the

head noun and behave much like part as a compound noun

Ex. Several women’s universities

A ship’s doctor

-three types of possessive determiners modifying head nouns-

a. Personal namesex. Bob’s houseb. Personal roles

ex. The teacher’s reportc. Collective nouns

Ex. The company’s report

*DEFINITE DETERMINERS

-five types of head nouns modified by possessive determiners-

a. Nouns of internal problemEx. Bob’s problem

b. Personal rolesEx. Mr. Smith' s doctor

c. Locative nounsEx. The teacher’s office

d. Physical objectsEx. The professor’s book

e. Others (animals, partitive nouns and institutional and collective nouns)

Ex. Billy’s dog

*DISCOURSE FUNCTION OF POSSESSIVES

Examples:• The world’s oldest person• Arle’s greatest attraction• Her uncle’s shop

-the noun that follows inflected noun may be deleted if it can be inferred from context-

Ex.Where is your car?It’s being repaired, so I borrowed Ted’s.

THE USE OF INFLECTED VERSUS PERIPHRASTIC POSSESSIVES

‘s form with human head nounsEx. Martine’s husband (human head noun)

of form with non human head nounsEx. The end of the road (nonhuman head noun)

But not for these:The works of Shakespeare fill an enormous volume.The dog’s tail is wagging.

-

According to study done by khampang(1973) in which he tested a native speakers:

• ‘s form whenever the head noun was animate• ‘s form even with inanimate head noun shows an

act of performing action

Ex. The train’s arrival was delayed.

Instead of saying:The arrival of the train was delayed.

-few less common ones applications of the ‘s possessives-

• Double possessivesEx. Hank’s brother’s car

• Nouns of special interest to human activityEx. The game’s history

• Natural phenomenaEx. The earth’s rotation

-the ‘of’ possessive is preferred in all other instances, most commonly with inanimate objects-

Ex. He stood at the foot of the bedInstead of:He stood at the bed’s foot-according to khampang the ‘of’ possessive maybe used even with a human head nouns when the modifier is long-Ex. He’s the son of the well known politicianInstead of:He’s the well-known politician’s son-Or with long double possessivesEx. What can I do for the husband of dr. smith’s daughter?Instead of:What can I do for dr. smith’s daughter’s husband?

-two typical pattern errors are:

a. Overgeneralizing of the “of” form

Ex. The car of my friend is new

b. Omitting the ‘s

Ex. My friend car is new

SOME USES OF POSSESSIVE

DETERMINERS ( M Y, Y O U R , H I S , H E R , O N E , T H E I R )

• Sentence internal reference to avoid repetition

• Cross-sentential or cross clausal reference

Social uses of possessive determiners(your and our)

-used in nonliteral, socially motivated ways-speakers are trying to identify with and engage the listeners

Ex.Here ‘s a look at your local weather.

(local meteorologist on the All weather channel)

We’re gonna go ahead and put our fertilizer down.(radio gardening expert to caller)