dativepossession

Dative possession is a grammatical construction found in some languages where the possessor is expressed by a dative case. This differs from the more common genitive case often used for possession. In languages with dative possession, a sentence might be structured to say "to me is a book" instead of "my book is" or "the book of me." The dative case marker on the possessor indicates their relationship to the possessed item or entity. This construction can sometimes imply a sense of involuntariness or emotional involvement on the part of the possessor, as the possessed item may be perceived as happening to them or being experienced by them. For example, in Russian, a common way to express "I have a headache" is "u menya bolit golova," which literally translates to "at me aches head." Here, "u menya" uses the genitive case but functions similarly to a dative in expressing possession. Some scholars consider certain constructions in languages like Latin and Greek, which may use dative for possessive-like meanings, as related to this phenomenon. The specific grammatical form and semantic nuance of dative possession vary significantly across languages that exhibit it.