Datapoint Papiamentu/Marking of pronominal possessors

Pronominal possessors usually simply precede the possessed. A suppletive form su is used for the 3rd person singular pronoun (perhaps because the 3SG nonpossessive pronoun e is homophonous with the definite article e); other pronominal possessors are identical to the subject forms of pronouns.

The adpositional construction with di is far less frequently used, and possibly associated with a slightly emphatic reading; this might be worthy of investigation.

Finally, plural pronouns are prosodic words (Kouwenberg 2007), which means that they may behave as full nouns, and appear in the dislocated possessive construction, with a prenominal possessor followed by su. This construction is discussed in more detail under Feature 38 "Marking of possessor noun phrases".

Values

Preceding word Frequency: 63.6%

Example 47-68:
mi buki(nan); bo buki(nan); su buki(nan); nos buki(nan); boso buki(nan); nan buki(nan)
mi
1sg
buki
book
(nan);
(pl)
bo
2sg
buki
book
(nan);
(pl)
su
poss
buki
book
(nan);
(pl)
nos
1pl
buki
book
(nan);
(pl)
boso
2pl
buki
book
(nan);
(pl)
nan
3pl
buki
book
(nan)
(pl)
my book(s); your book(s); her, her book(s); our book(s); your book(s); their book(s)

Source: Goilo 1972: 18

Confidence:
Very certain

Adpositional phrase following the possessum Frequency: 27.3%

Example 47-69:
e mentalidat aki di dje
e
def
mentalidat
mentality
aki
dem.prox
di
of
e
3sg
this mentality of his

Source: Kouwenberg nd

Example 47-70:
Tende, bo ta korda e amiga di bo?
Tende,
listen
bo
2sg
ta
tns
korda
remember
e
def
amiga
friend
di
of
bo?
2sg
Listen, you remember that girlfriend of yours?

Source: Kouwenberg nd

Confidence:
Very certain

Adpositional phrase preceding the possessum Frequency: 9.1%

Example 47-5:
boso tur su trabou
boso
2pl
tur
all
su
poss
trabou
work
the work of you all

Source: Maurer 1988: 38

Confidence:
Very certain