On Adjoined Possessors

• Published in: Linguistic Inquiry
• Main Authors: Bárány, András, Nikolaeva, Irina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MIT Press - Journals 2021
• Subjects: possession; adjunction; switch-reference; Tundra Nenets; obviation; nenets; Tundra
• Online Access: https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2950382

Bárány A, Nikolaeva I. On Adjoined Possessors. Linguistic Inquiry . 2021;52(1):181-194. External and internal possessors differ from each other in several properties. In contrast to internal possessors, external possessors do not form a constituent with the possessed noun and can participate in clause-level processes such as verb agreement and switch-reference. In this squib, we discuss “intermediate” possessors with both internal and external properties. In Tundra Nenets (Uralic), such possessors form a syntactic constituent with the possessed noun but show different types of clause-level behavior. They can bind and control out of their host DP and participate in an obviation system, a consequence of the possessor being adjoined to the host DP.