possessieven

Possessieven is a term used in linguistics to describe the class of words that encode possession. They include both possessive determiners (often called possessive adjectives) that modify a noun, and possessive pronouns that stand alone. Together, they express a relationship of ownership or association between an owner and the possessed noun, and they are typically connected to the person and number of the possessor.

There are two main subtypes. Possessive determiners modify a following noun and usually agree with the possessor in person and number; in languages with rich morphology they may also show case or declension. Possessive pronouns substitute a noun phrase and express possession without naming the possessed noun, as in mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs in English. In many languages, possessieven show person and number distinctions and may also reflect gender or case, depending on the grammar.

Morphology and cross-linguistic variation vary widely. In German, possessive determiners such as mein, dein, ihr decline with case, gender, and number (for example mein Buch, meines Buches). In English, possessive determiners are largely invariant (my, your, his, her, our, their), while possessive pronouns form a separate set (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs). Dutch similarly has determiner forms like mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, ons, jullie, and pronoun forms such as de mijne or de jouwe. Other languages may attach possession to the possessor through affixes on the possessed noun, or use parallel clitic forms.

See also: possessive case, pronoun, determiner.