genetiivikieltä

Genetiivikieltä (genitive language) is a term used in linguistic typology to describe languages in which the genitive case plays a central role in encoding core grammatical relations, particularly possession, attribution, and part-whole relationships. In a genetiivikieltä framework, possessive meaning is primarily expressed through inflection of the noun into the genitive, rather than relying on prepositions or possessive pronouns alone. The genitive may also participate in constructing noun phrases with adjectives and numerals, and can interact with other cases to express finer semantic distinctions.

Typological patterns: In many languages the genitive coexists with other cases such as nominative and accusative; some languages use the genitive even in main noun-phrase-internal positions. The function known as "genitive of possession" is common, but genitive can also mark measurement, quantification, or source. Word order effects may be limited, because the grammatical relation is signaled morphologically.

Cross-linguistic examples: German uses a genitive case to indicate possession in phrases like "des Hauses" (the house's). Russian marks possession via genitive in phrases such as "u menja net doma" (I have no home). Finnish uses the genitive for possession in some constructions, but it has a separate partitive system. The label "genetiivikieltä" is not a universal category; it covers languages at different stages with varying degrees of genitive usage.

Relation to other concepts: It is related to the broader study of case systems, possessive constructions, and nominal inflection. Researchers may prefer more precise labels such as "languages with prominent genitive marking" rather than a single universal type.