Susanne Borgwaldt1

1
In Search of Possession From Concept to
Inflection

• Susanne Borgwaldt1 John Newman2
• 1Technical University Braunschweig
• 2University of Alberta

2
Body part morphemes in Dene Suline
3
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
4
Body part words words for clothing in English

• What are the patterns of usage in English
  concerning these words and their human
  possessors?

5
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.

6
Possession

• Conceptual
• The possessor referent is identifiable within the
  sentence containing the possessee
• Tom was shot in the leg.
• The bullet went into Toms leg.
• I could see the leg of a man under the table.
• The bullet was in his leg.

7
Possession

• Grammatical modification
• the possessor referent appears as some kind of
  modifying element within the possessee NP (with
  results for all types aggregrated)
• my friends leg(s)
• AND
• the leg(s) of my friend
• AND
• her leg(s)

8
Possession

• Specific morphological class
• the possessor referent appears as a particular
  possessive type within the NP (with results for
  each type kept distinct)
• my friends leg(s)
• OR
• the leg(s) of my friend
• OR
• her/their leg(s)

9
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

10
Corpora

• MultiSemCor (http//multisemcor.itc.it/index.php)
• relatively small (258,499 tokens in 116 texts)
• written only (subset of BROWN)
• POS tagged and semantically tagged
• BNC (accessed through BNCWeb)
• relatively large (100 million tokens)
• built-in stats
• spoken and written
• POS tagged, but not semantically tagged

11
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

12
MultiSemCor
13
Conceptual possession in MultiSemcor
Body Parts
Clothes
n.s.

• Tom was shot in the leg.
• The bullet went into Toms leg.
• I could see the leg of a man under the table.
• The bullet was in his leg.

14
Conceptual possession in MultiSemcor
Body Parts
Clothes
n.s.

• Kim had a hat on.Kims hat was cute.The hat of
  Kim was cute.Her hat was cute.

15
Grammatical modification in NP in MultiSemcor
Body Parts
Clothes
my friends leg the leg of my friend her leg
Tom was hit in the leg
16
Grammatical modification in NP in MultiSemcor
Chi-square 20.65, p 0.001
Body Parts
Clothes
my friends cap the cap of my friend her cap
Tom had a cap on
17
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.
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Conceptual vs. linguistic distance

• Hua (Papuan) inalienable possession
• r-vari our-sweat
• Alienable possession
• rgai? bodo? your loincloth

Haiman, J. (1985). Natural Syntax Iconicity and
Erosion. CFambridge Cambridge University Press.
pp. 130-131.
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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

20
Possessives by morphological class in
MultiSemcor
Body Parts
Clothes
n.s.

• her leg
• my friends leg
• the leg of my friend

her capmy friends capthe cap of my friend
21
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

22
Singular/Plural in the BNC
SINGULAR NOUNNN1 in whole BNC PLURALNOUNNN2 in whole BNC
house 47,087 9,134
garden 10,385 3,592
child/children 23,662 45,729
On markedness reversal seeTiersma, P. (1982).
Local and General Markedness.  Language 58
832-49.
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BNC head
head Freq LL heads Freq LL
my 1738 9734.09 my 2 4.14
his 7198 47440.33 his 4 15.46
her 4879 34679.12 her
our 36 3.30 our 250 1580.62
their 143 55.70 their 1130 8499.32
24
BNC head
head Freq LL heads Freq LL
my 1738 9734.09 my 2 4.14
his 7198 47440.33 his 4 15.46
her 4879 34679.12 her
our 36 3.30 our 250 1580.62
their 143 55.70 their 1130 8499.32
25
BNC mouth
mouth Freq LL mouths Freq LL
my 374 1899.28 my
his 2367 16471.23 his
her 1716 13046.38 her
our 5 0.81 our 42 296.09
their 32 6.27 their 205 1750.80
26
BNC mouth
mouth Freq LL mouths Freq LL
my 374 1899.28 my
his 2367 16471.23 his
her 1716 13046.38 her
our 5 0.81 our 42 296.09
their 32 6.27 their 205 1750.80
27
BNC finger
finger Freq LL fingers Freq LL
my 141 738.44 my 286 1567.78
his 418 2285.73 his 1221 7963.64
her 274 1628.15 her 925 6731.04
our 14 24.97 our 52 183.82
their 20 16.40 their 173 595.60
28
BNC finger
finger Freq LL fingers Freq LL
my 141 738.44 my 286 1567.78
his 418 2285.73 his 1221 7963.64
her 274 1628.15 her 925 6731.04
our 14 24.97 our 52 183.82
their 20 16.40 their 173 595.60
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BNC eye
eye Freq LL eyes Freq LL
my 268 1174.36 my 1203 6164.39
his 567 2214.31 his 6075 39500.35
her 336 1410.16 her 5268 39838.07
our 18 10.70 our 286 919.83
their 45 22.36 their 892 3109.25
30
BNC eye
eye Freq LL eyes Freq LL
my 268 1174.36 my 1203 6164.39
his 567 2214.31 his 6075 39500.35
her 336 1410.16 her 5268 39838.07
our 18 10.70 our 286 919.83
their 45 22.36 their 892 3109.25
31
BNC leg
leg Freq LL legs Freq LL
my 194 942.68 my 358 2039.29
his 392 1683.74 his 699 3547.69
her 161 623.18 her 738 4827.82
our 1 3.56 our 36 78.83
their 16 1.57 their 195 671.97
32
BNC leg
leg Freq LL legs Freq LL
my 194 942.68 my 358 2039.29
his 392 1683.74 his 699 3547.69
her 161 623.18 her 738 4827.82
our 1 3.56 our 36 78.83
their 16 1.57 their 195 671.97
33
BNC foot
foot Freq LL feet Freq LL
my 157 607.75 my 626 3285.40
his 383 1404.62 his 2030 11509.72
her 210 800.24 her 1460 9247.34
our 5 0.09 our 131 405.83
their 37 21.51 their 660 2829.41
34
BNC foot
foot Freq LL feet Freq LL
my 157 607.75 my 626 3285.40
his 383 1404.62 his 2030 11509.72
her 210 800.24 her 1460 9247.34
our 5 0.09 our 131 405.83
their 37 21.51 their 660 2829.41
35

BNC hand
hand Freq LL hands Freq LL
my 957 4165.26 my 781 4012.78
his 3868 20034.12 his 3322 20383.04
her 2616 14978.05 her 2045 13214.01
our 34 1.66 our 277 1103.68
their 120 24.48 their 958 4287.74
36

BNC hand
hand Freq LL hands Freq LL
my 957 4165.26 my 781 4012.78
his 3868 20034.12 his 3322 20383.04
her 2616 14978.05 her 2045 13214.01
our 34 1.66 our 277 1103.68
their 120 24.48 their 958 4287.74
37
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)
38
Summary
1. Possessor in Sentence or not (conceptual possession) Body parts clothes
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)
39
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)
40
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)
41
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
42
Conclusions

• We can understand possession in four different
  ways from coarse-grained to fine-grained
• All four approaches to possession have their
  virtues
• Linguistic typology research can benefit from
  exploiting all four ways