sentencepossession

Sentencepossession is a term used in linguistics to describe how possession relations can be encoded at the level of a sentence rather than being confined to a single noun phrase. It covers constructions in which the possessor or the possessed is expressed through predication, coordination, or clausal structure, distributing the possessive meaning across the sentence.

Mechanisms commonly grouped under sentencepossession include predicative possessive forms such as That car is John’s, where the possessive relation is part of the predicate rather than a bound noun phrase. It also encompasses clause-level expressions like The ownership of the car belongs to John, in which a possessive relation is realized via a full noun phrase within a larger clause. Relative clauses that encode possession, as in The book John owns is on the table, similarly illustrate sentence-level enrollment of possession, where the ownership relation is embedded in the broader sentence rather than in a focused possessive NP alone.

Cross-linguistic variation shows that what counts as sentencepossession can differ. Some languages rely on genitive affixes attached to nouns within a clause, others use dedicated copular or periphrastic constructions, and still others express possession through verbs meaning “own” or “belong.” The phenomenon intersects with possession typology, copular predication, and clause-level semantics, highlighting that possession can be encoded both within noun phrases and across sentences.

Status and usage: sentencepossession is not a universally standardized term. It is used descriptively to capture a family of constructions where possession is expressed at or across the sentence, complementing more traditional discussions of NP possession and possessive clauses. See also possession, genitive case, possessive construction, copular predication.