genitivecompatible

Genitivecompatible is a linguistic term used to describe a lexical item, phrase, or construction that is compatible with genitive case marking in a given language. It is not a standard typological category, but a descriptive label used in some grammars to note when a form participates in genitive possessive constructions without special treatment.

In languages with overt genitive systems, genitive-compatible elements reliably appear in genitive constructions such as possessive phrases or genitive attributes. The concept helps distinguish items that readily inflect or attach to genitive possessor phrases from those that require alternative forms, such as periphrastic 'of' constructions or different word orders.

Examples: In German, the noun Mann can appear in a genitive form like des Mannes, as in des Mannes Hut (the man's hat). The adjective can combine with the noun in genitive phrases, yielding des kleinen Mannes Hut, illustrating compatibility with genitive marking. English, by contrast, lacks productive genitive inflection, so the notion is less central; possessives like the man's hat are often discussed as a parallel across languages rather than as a direct instance of genitive inflection.

Genitive compatibility can vary by dialect and by the specifics of a language's case system. The term is primarily a descriptive convenience rather than a formal category, and it is often used in comparative or typological grammar to flag constructions that share surface similarities but differ in marking.

See also: Genitive case, Possessive construction, Oblique genitive, Double genitive.