Datapoint Diu Indo-Portuguese/Marking of possessor noun phrases

Possessor noun phrases take the form of a prepositional phrase with the preposition də, which, in addition to its possessor-marking function, is a generic relator allowing the modification of a nominal head by another NP (e.g. garaf də beer [bottle of beer] 'beer bottle').

The typical position of posessor noun phrases is postnominal (i.e. after the possessum). Occasionally, however, possessor NPs (i.e. də-PPs) are placed in prenominal position, which is usually reserved for pronominal possessors. All NPs occurring in this position are rather short (typically containing no more than two words), which suggests the constraints on these occurrences must be sensitive to heaviness.

Values

Adpositional or case marking of possessor

Example 39-2:
Jacob tə faze vɔs də kɔb.
Jacob
Jacob
tə
ipfv.npst
faz-e
make-inf
vɔs
voice
də
of
kɔb.
snake
Jacob is imitating the voice of a snake (lit. Jacob is making the voice of a snake).

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Example 39-5:
Dəpəy muyɛmuyɛr də Manu, muyɛmuyɛr də ɔrlãd.
Dəpəy
then
muyɛr~muyɛr
woman~woman
də
of
Manu,
Manu
muyɛr~muyɛr
woman~woman
də
of
ɔrlãd.
Orlando
then the women of Manu('s family), the women of Orlando('s family)

Source: Cardoso 2009: 175

Example 39-6:
Də tɛtɛ kaz jə bẽzew?
Də
of
tɛtɛ
Tete
kaz
house
jə
already
bẽze-w?
bless-pst
Has [he] already blessed Tete's house?

Source: Cardoso 2009: 169

Example 39-7:
Kurəsãw də makak dẽt del mem korp.
Kurəsãw
heart
də
of
makak
monkey
dẽt
inside
də-el
of-3sg
mem
emph
korp.
body
The monkey's heart is inside his own body.

Source: Cardoso 2009: 220

Example 39-82:
nɔven də nɔsior də mɔrt, nɔven də nɔsior də imakulad
nɔven
novena
də
of
nɔsior
our.lady
də
of
mɔrt,
death
nɔven
novena
də
of
nɔsior
our.lady
də
of
imakulad
immaculate
the novena of Our Lady of Death, the novena of Our Lady of Immaculate (Conception)

Source: Cardoso 2009: 242

Confidence:
Very certain