(Udmurt)
GenPossAff~NonAff
GenPossAff~NonAff: Possessed nouns are optionally marked with possessive affixes; or, the use of such affixes is determined by considerations other than the form of the possessor noun.
| (1) | boris-len | puny-jez | berlo-ges | ogna-z | vu-i-z. |
|---|
| Boris‑GEN | dog‑3SG | late‑COMP | alone‑3SG | arrive‑PST‑3SG |
| ’Boris’s dog arrived alone later.’ (UdmCorp.) |
| (2) | petyr | maša-leś | puny-ze | žug-i-z. |
|---|
| Peter | Masha‑ABL | dog‑3SG.ACC | beat‑PST‑3SG |
| ’Peter beat Masha’s dog.’ (Assmann et al. 2014: 10) |
| (3) | alina-len | peľ-jos-yz | viś-e, | śinm-yz | umoj | ug | adʒ́y. |
|---|
| Alina‑GEN | ear‑PL‑3SG | hurt‑3SG | eye‑3SG | good | NEG.3 | see.CNG.SG |
| ’Alina’s ears hurt, and she cannot see well with her eyes.’ (UdmCorp.) |
| (4) | soos-ty | adʒ́y-sa, | pavel-len | mylkyd-yz | kapći | lu-i-z. |
|---|
| they‑ACC | see‑CVB | Pavel‑GEN | mood‑3SG | easy | become‑PST‑3SG |
| ’Seeing them, Pavel’s mood improved.’ (UdmCorp.) |
| (5) | ivan-len | śin | lećyt, | peľ | koťku | sak. |
|---|
| Ivan‑GEN | eye | sharp | ear | always | observant |
| ’Ivan has got sharp eyes and ears. ’ (Vakhrushev 1970: 101) |
| (6) | poma-len | mylkyd | tak | no | söriśk-em-yn. |
|---|
| Poma‑GEN | mood | PCL | PCL | spoil‑PTCP‑INE |
| ’So Poma’s mood was spoiled, too.’ (Vakhrushev 1970: 101) |
| (7) | kolhoz-leś | muzjem-ze | arenda-je | baśt-i-my. |
|---|
| kolkhoz‑ABL | land‑3SG.ACC | rent‑ILL | buy‑PST‑1PL |
| ’We rented the land of the kolkhoz/We rented the land from the kolkhoz.’ (Edygarova 2009: 108) |
| (8) | eše-leś | gožtet | baśt-i. |
|---|
| friend‑ABL | letter | get‑PST.1SG |
| ’I received a letter from my friend/I received my friend’s letter.’ (Edygarova 2009: 108) |
In Udmurt possessive constructions, the possessed noun tends to carry an affix (Keľmakov – Hännikäinen 2008: 78) showing the person and number of the possessor. Nominal possessors have genitive (1), (3)–(6) or ablative case, the latter used when the possessee itself is in accusative case (2) (cf. Csúcs 1998: 285, Winkler 2011: 65, Keľmakov – Hännikäinen 2008: 86, 126, Assmann et al. 2014). Less frequently the possessed noun can be unmarked in the environment of a nominal possessor (Winkler 2011: 64, Keľmakov – Hännikäinen 2008: 86–87, Edygarova 2009: 102). Such unmarkedness is attested when the possessee is abstract or inalienable, though the suffixed version is more common even in these cases (3)–(4). In the presence of the possessor, however, the possessed noun can occasionally be unmarked when it is a body part (5) or abstract noun (6). According to Vakhrushev (1970: 101) this mainly characterizes the spoken language. Edygarova adds the observation that in those possessive constructions where the nominals in ablative case can be interpreted either in an ablative or genitive function the possessive suffix appears only on inalienable possessions (7) or those controlled by the possessor, but not in other cases (8) (Edygarova 2009: 108).
Author: Laura Horváth
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