possessiven

Possessiven is a term that may appear in discussions of grammar to refer to possessive forms, but it is not a universally fixed category in all grammars. In practice, linguists typically use the broader labels possessive, possessive determiner, possessive pronoun, or possessive suffix to describe how possession or close relation is encoded in a language. The form itself is linked to the idea of ownership, association, or part-whole relations between nouns.

Possessives can appear in several structural ways. They can be dependent on a noun, as in possessive determiners like my, your, his, her in English, which modify a noun (my car). They can stand as pronouns, such as mine or yours, replacing a noun phrase. Some languages use a dedicated possessive case or possessive suffixes on the possessed noun. For example, Finnish attaches possessive suffixes to nouns to indicate the possessor (kirjani = my book). Turkish uses suffixes attached to the noun to mark possession (kitap-im = my book). In German, possessives appear as possessive determiners (mein Auto) and possessive pronouns (meiner, meinerseits), with declension patterns that depend on case, gender, and number.

Cross-language variation is common: some languages rely primarily on a separate genitive construction, others on clitic or affixal marks, and still others combine multiple strategies. The term possessiven, when used, usually signals discussion of these possessive forms in the plural sense or as a category name in German-language grammar. See also possessive case, genitive, possessive pronoun, and possessive determiner for related concepts.