Nominal Structures of Uralic Languages

Predicative possession is principally an existential clause: it cannot have a specific subject, that is why the possessor expression is always topicalized, i.e. the possessor and th epossesse noun phrases never form one constituent. This is illsutrated by the fact that either one can be focused, but they cannot be focused together.

Csak	(*Mari-nak	kutyá-ja)	van.
only	Mary-DAT	dog-POSS	be.3SG

’Intended: Only Mary has a dog / Only Mary's dog exists.’

Source: Example provided by database editor (native speaker).

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nonverbal predication

possession

predicative possession

existentials

in Linguistic terms and definitions.