External versus internal possessor structures and inalienability in Russian

Katia Paykin (1) , Marleen van Peteghem

1 STL - Savoirs, Textes, Langage (STL) - UMR 8163

This study deals with the choice between two external possessor structures in Russian: the possessive dative and the U + genitive PP. Is shows that this choice is primarily related to the thematic role of the possessor adjunct, which can vary with the same verb: the possessive dative presents it as a goal or as an experiencer, while the U-construction views it as a source or a location. Two general conclusions can be drawn from this study: - Russian views the possessive relation through its relationship with space. - Russian external possessor structures reflect two different delimitations of inalienable possession, one restricted to animate referents for the dative and one extended to a wide range of possessive relations including inanimate referents for the U-construction.

Mots clés: external possessor; possessive dative; genitive PP; inalienable possession

Domaines: Linguistique

Katia Paykin, Marleen van Peteghem. External versus internal possessor structures and inalienability in Russian . Russian Linguistics, 2003, 27, pp.329-348. ⟨10.1023/A:1027373010332⟩. ⟨hal-01532362⟩