possessivsuffixet

Possessivsuffixet, or the possessive suffix, is a grammatical device in which possession is marked by attaching a suffix directly to the possessed noun. This morphological strategy encodes the person and number of the possessor within the noun form, so a word like “house” can take different endings to mean “my house,” “your house,” or “their house,” without requiring a separate possessive determiner.

The suffix system is most clearly attested in languages such as Hungarian and certain Finnic languages, and it is a feature of broader language families where possessive information is fused into the noun. In these systems, the suffixes attach to the noun stem and can show variation for person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural), sometimes interacting with vowel harmony or phonological changes on the stem. The possessed noun thus serves as both the base and the carrier of possessive information.

Hungarian provides widely cited examples: ház-am (my house), ház-ad (your house), ház-a (his/her house), ház-unk (our house), ház-atok (your house, plural), ház-uk (their house). Similar suffixal patterns exist in other languages, though the exact forms differ. In Finnish and Estonian, possessive suffixes operate on the possessed noun as well, but the specific endings and harmony rules differ from Hungarian.

Possessive suffixes are typically contrasted with possessive adjectives or pronouns, which express possession without modifying the noun itself. They are part of a larger typology of possessive marking and illustrate how a language can encode ownership directly into nominal morphology.