Datapoint Diu Indo-Portuguese/Independent pronominal possessors

Second and third person pronominal possessors take the form of prepositional phrases with də + personal pronoun, although the phonological integration of the constituents raises the question whether they have merged into special possessive pronouns. Crucially, non-pronominal possessors are also expresed through a də-PP. It is therefore no surprise that, with respect to second and third person pronominal possessors, we find no formal difference whatsoever between their dependent and independent occurrences.

First person possessive pronouns, on the other hand, are formally unrelated to də-PPs, which renders them privileged testing grounds for the question at hand. Whereas their dependent forms are mĩ 'mine' and nɔs 'our', we find that in independent occurrences they may appear as such but, more often than not, appear embedded in a də-PP. Of the three contexts under analysis, elliptical answers seem to be the ones most likely to trigger a bare possessive pronoun.

Values

Identical to dependent pronominal possessor Frequency: 70.0%

Example 39-85:
Mĩ te kaz.
Mĩ
1sg.poss
te
loc.npst
kaz.
house
Mine is at home.

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Example 39-86:
Use nã tros duse?
Use
2
nã
neg
tros
bring.pst
də-use?
of-2
Didn't you bring yours?
Example 39-87:
Mĩ saykəl te kaz.
Mĩ
1sg.poss
saykəl
bicycle
te
be.npst
kaz.
house
My bicycle is at home.

Source: Cardoso 2009: 160

Confidence:
Very certain

Special preposition plus pronoun Frequency: 30.0%

Example 39-17:
Ikəl kamiz ku verd i amrɛl flor ɛ də mĩ.
Ikəl
dem
kamiz
shirt
ku
with
verd
green
i
and
amrɛl
yellow
flor
flower
ɛ
cop.npst
də
of
mĩ.
1sg.obl
The shirt with the green and yellow flowers is mine.

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Example 39-67:
Ikəl ɛ mĩ kaz.
Ikəl
dem
ɛ
cop.npst
mĩ
1sg.poss
kaz.
house
That is my house.
Example 39-83:
Es ɛ də mĩ mem ɛ.
Es
dem
ɛ
cop.npst
də
of
mĩ
1sg.obl
mem
emph
ɛ.
cop.npst
This is MINE.

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Example 39-84:
Es kaz ɛ də nɔs.
Es
dem
kaz
house
ɛ
cop.npst
də
of
nɔs.
1pl
This house is ours.

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Confidence:
Certain