Finnish Possessive Constructions

@cite{heine-1997} @cite{stassen-2009}

Finnish (Uralic) derives its primary have-construction from the Location Schema ("Y is located at X" → "X has Y"). The construction consists of:

1. Possessor in adessive case (-lla / -llä 'on, at')
2. Possessum in nominative (= grammatical subject)
3. Copula olla 'to be'

The adessive case is etymologically locative ('on the surface of'), grammaticalized to mark the possessor. Finnish is a textbook example of the Location Schema reaching Stage III: the adessive in possessive use is no longer interpreted as locative by speakers.

Examples

• Minulla on kirja. 'I have a book.' (I.ADESS is book)
• Isällä on auto. 'Father has a car.' (father.ADESS is car)
• Minulla ei ole rahaa. 'I have no money.' (I.ADESS not be money.PART)

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema : Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessionSource

Finnish uses the Location Schema for its primary have-construction.

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema = Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessionSource.location

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy : Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PredicativePossession

Finnish's predicative strategy is locational/existential.

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy = Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PredicativePossession.locational

theorem Fragments.Finnish.Possession.strategy_matches_schema : Phenomena.Possession.Typology.predicativeSource predicativeStrategy = sourceSchema

The strategy matches the schema via predicativeSource.

structure Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossessive : Type

Components of the Finnish possessive construction.

• possessorCase : String

  Possessor case: adessive (-lla, -llä; vowel harmony).

• possesseeCase : String

  Possessee case: nominative (subject of existential).

• copula : String

  Copula: olla 'to be'.

• negAux : String

  Negative auxiliary: ei (person-inflected) + ole (connegative).

• negPossesseeCase : String

  In negative, possessee takes partitive case instead of nominative.

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : FiPossessive) : Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive : DecidableEq FiPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive = Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive.decEq

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossessive.beq : FiPossessive → FiPossessive → Bool

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossessive.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossessive : BEq FiPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossessive = { beq := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossessive.beq }

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive.repr : FiPossessive → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive : Repr FiPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive = { reprPrec := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive.repr }

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction : FiPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction = { }

inductive Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson : Type

Finnish possessive suffixes on the possessum (attributive possession). These are declining in spoken Finnish but required in formal/written registers.

• first : FiPossPerson
• second : FiPossPerson
• third : FiPossPerson

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossPerson : DecidableEq FiPossPerson

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossPerson x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossPerson.beq : FiPossPerson → FiPossPerson → Bool

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossPerson.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossPerson : BEq FiPossPerson

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossPerson = { beq := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossPerson.beq }

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson.repr : FiPossPerson → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson : Repr FiPossPerson

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson = { reprPrec := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson.repr }

inductive Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber : Type

• sg : FiPossNumber
• pl : FiPossNumber

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossNumber : DecidableEq FiPossNumber

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossNumber x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossNumber : BEq FiPossNumber

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossNumber = { beq := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossNumber.beq }

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossNumber.beq : FiPossNumber → FiPossNumber → Bool

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instBEqFiPossNumber.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber.repr : FiPossNumber → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber : Repr FiPossNumber

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber = { reprPrec := Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber.repr }

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix : FiPossPerson → FiPossNumber → String

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.first Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.sg = "-ni"
• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.second Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.sg = "-si"
• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.third x✝ = "-nsa/-nsä"
• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.first Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.pl = "-mme"
• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.second Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.pl = "-nne"

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy : Phenomena.Possession.Typology.AdnominalPossession

Finnish marks possession on the possessum (head-marking) via the possessive suffixes above. It also uses the genitive case on the possessor NP (dependent-marking), giving a double-marking pattern in formal registers: Matti-n kirja-nsa 'Matti-GEN book-POSS.3'.

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy = Phenomena.Possession.Typology.AdnominalPossession.doubleMarking

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.expressibleNotions : List Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessiveNotion

The adessive construction covers most possessive notions. Finnish, like Estonian, uses the Location Schema for both physical/temporary and permanent/inalienable possession — showing full Stage III grammaticalization (no location meaning remains).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem Fragments.Finnish.Possession.covers_all_notions : expressibleNotions.length = 7

All seven notions are expressible, matching Swahili's coverage — both are at Stage III of grammaticalization.

theorem Fragments.Finnish.Possession.matches_heine_predictions : have p := Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.predictionsFor sourceSchema; p.yieldsHave = true ∧ p.yieldsBelong = false ∧ p.possessorIsSubject = false

Finnish's Location Schema matches Heine's predictions: have-construction (not belong), possessee as subject, Pred1 arity.

theorem Fragments.Finnish.Possession.stage_III_grammaticalization : Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.targetOnly.degree > Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.overlap.degree

Finnish at Stage III: the adessive in possessive use is no longer interpreted as locative. This matches Heine's Overlap Model prediction that fully grammaticalized schemas lose their source meaning.

theorem Fragments.Finnish.Possession.wals_consistent : Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.walsToSchema Core.WALS.F117A.PredicativePossession.locational = sourceSchema

WALS F117A classifies Finnish as locational, which maps to Heine's Location Schema via walsToSchema.