genitiivsingulus

Genitivsingulus, also referred to as singular genitive in some contexts, is a grammatical formation used to indicate possession or attribute in some singular nouns. This construction is observed in a variety of languages, including several languages of the Indo-European family.

When a singular noun is used in the genitive case to indicate possession or attribute, it may appear in its base or kernel form, rather than its distinct genitive form if such an alternative exists for singular nouns. This usage can be seen in many languages where a distinct genitive form is typically only used for plural or possessive nouns.

Examples of languages employing a genitivsingulus include German, where the nouns "Tag" and "Kilometer" (day and kilometer) may both remain in their basic form when used in the genitive case ("des Tages" is more formally correct for "des Tags").

A comparison of genitivsingulus with the possessive adjective can be instructive. In English, the possessive form for singular nouns that do not end in "-s" may also consist simply of the use of the apostrophe alone (e.g. "a cat's tail" refers to the tail belonging to a cat). However, both forms (apostrophe and genitive singular) often express the same relationship. This suggests the various ways in which the language expresses relationships between properties, people, and objects. Genitivsingulus demonstrates an option within languages to achieve similar effects in a given situation.