genitivesi

Genitivesi is a term that appears in a small subset of discussions on possessive syntax. It is not a standard label in mainstream linguistics, but it is used to describe a family of possessive constructions in which the possessive relation is signaled primarily by genitive markings on the possessor phrase, rather than by a separate marker on the possessed noun. In such accounts, the genitive marker can take the form of a suffix, a case ending, or a clitic attached to the possessor, and may interact with determiners or other modifiers within the noun phrase.

Typology and interpretation of genitivesi vary across proposals. A common division is between (a) suffixal or case-marking on the possessor, where the possessor carries a genitive morphology (for example, a hypothetical king-GEN crown to mean “the king’s crown”), and (b) a genitive clitic or particle that attaches to the possessor or to the noun phrase as a whole to signal possession. The term is typically contrasted with head-marked possessives, in which the possessed noun bears the marker, and with periphrastic or analytic possessives that use separate words or constructions.

Status and use in data: Genitivesi is largely a theoretical or typological label rather than a description tied to a single language. It may appear in discussions of languages with rich case systems or in the analysis of constructed languages (conlangs), where researchers test how possession could be encoded in different morphosyntactic alignments. Because its meaning is not universally fixed, authors may differ in whether they treat genitivesi as a defining pattern or as a convenient shorthand for a range of related constructions.

See also: genitive case, possessive construction, clitic, possessive marker.