Genitiveperspective

Genitiveperspective is a theoretical construct in linguistics and literary analysis referring to a proposed feature of some possession systems in which the genitive case or its markers not only indicates ownership but simultaneously encodes the viewpoint or stance of the possessor toward the referent. The term blends genitive (the grammatical case for possessors or close association) with perspective (viewpoint, stance, or point of view). It is used to analyze how languages or texts convey subjectivity within possession expressions.

In typology, genitiveperspective distinguishes between a purely referential genitive and one that reframes the referent through the possessor’s point of view. Mechanisms may include specialized genitive markers, differential word order, or clausal devices that foreground the possessor’s perspective, distance, or certainty. This can interact with evidentiality, stance, or affect, and is often discussed in cross-linguistic surveys of possession and viewpoint encoding. The phenomenon is largely hypothetical or used in theoretical discussions, with limited direct empirical attestation in natural languages as a named category.

Examples are schematic: in a hypothetical language, the form N-GEN might be translated as “the X, from Y’s point of view,” as in Mary-GEN house meaning “the house as Mary sees it.” Another example could be “the farmer-GEN field,” meaning “the field as the farmer perceives or claims it.” These illustrate a possible analysis where possession intersects with subjectivity.

See also: genitive case, possession, perspective marking, stance, evidentiality.