solutionsgenitive

Solutionsgenitive is a theoretical linguistic term describing a genitive-like marker that encodes the source of a solution to a problem within a noun phrase. It is used in typological descriptions to discuss how languages encode relationships between problems and their solutions. The term combines solutions with the genitive to indicate that the solution originates from the problem itself, rather than merely being owned by something.

Morphology and function: In languages with a solutionsgenitive, the marker may appear as a suffix on the dependent noun, a postposition after the head noun, or as a particle attached to the solution noun. The key idea is to signal provenance or derivation: the solution is the product of solving the problem. This construction is distinct from ordinary possessive genitives, which express ownership or association rather than origin of the result.

Example: In a hypothetical language X, the phrase problema-solu uses the solutionsgenitive suffix -solu to mean the solution of the problem. In another pattern, a postposition after the nouns marks the source. In practice, scholars debate its cross-linguistic validity and its cognitive load for language learners, noting that attestation varies widely across languages.

Applications and reception: The concept serves discussions in linguistic documentation, typology, and natural language processing models that aim to represent complex noun-phrase relations. The idea remains theoretical and speculative, with limited cross-language evidence and ongoing debate about how best to model such a relation in real languages. See also genitive case, possessive, noun phrase, syntax.