Russian Possessive Constructions

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

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

1. Preposition u 'at, by' + possessor in genitive case
2. Possessum in nominative (= grammatical subject)
3. Copula est' 'is' (often omitted in present tense)

The possessor is an oblique locative adjunct; the possessee is the grammatical subject. This matches Heine's prediction: Location Schema encodes the possessee as subject.

Russian also has a secondary, less common Action Schema construction using imet' 'to have' (< *em- 'take'), where the possessor is subject.

Examples

• U menja (est') kniga. 'I have a book.' (at me is book)
• U menja net deneg. 'I have no money.' (at me not-is money.GEN)
• On imeet pravo. 'He has a right.' (he has.3SG right; Action Schema)

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

Russian's primary possessive construction uses the Location Schema.

Equations

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

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

Russian's predicative strategy is locational/existential.

Equations

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

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

The strategy matches the schema via predicativeSource.

structure Fragments.Russian.Possession.RuPossessive : Type

Components of the Russian possessive construction.

• preposition : String

  The preposition u 'at, by' — etymologically locative.

• possessorCase : String

  Possessor case: genitive (following u).

• possesseeCase : String

  Possessee case: nominative (grammatical subject).

• copula : String

  Copula est' — often dropped in present tense affirmative.

• negForm : String

  Negative existential net + genitive (replaces est' + NOM).

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.instDecidableEqRuPossessive.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : RuPossessive) : Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)

Equations

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

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instDecidableEqRuPossessive : DecidableEq RuPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instDecidableEqRuPossessive = Fragments.Russian.Possession.instDecidableEqRuPossessive.decEq

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuPossessive.beq : RuPossessive → RuPossessive → Bool

Equations

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

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuPossessive : BEq RuPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuPossessive = { beq := Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuPossessive.beq }

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuPossessive : Repr RuPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuPossessive = { reprPrec := Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuPossessive.repr }

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuPossessive.repr : RuPossessive → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

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

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.primaryConstruction : RuPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.primaryConstruction = { }

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.secondarySchema : Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessionSource

Russian has a secondary Action Schema construction using imet' 'to have' (< Proto-Slavic *jьmati, related to *em- 'take, seize'). This is restricted to formal/abstract possession and is much less common than the u + GEN construction.

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.secondarySchema = Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessionSource.action

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.imetPossessorIsSubject : Bool

imet' is transitive: possessor = subject, possessee = object. This matches Heine's prediction for the Action Schema.

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.imetPossessorIsSubject = true

inductive Fragments.Russian.Possession.RuOverlapExample : Type

Russian illustrates Heine's Overlap Model clearly. The u construction shows all three stages depending on context:

• Stage I (source only): Lampa stoit u okna. 'The lamp stands by the window.' — pure location, no possessive meaning.
• Stage II (overlap): Sejcas u Markovyx gripp. 'There is flu at the Markovs / The Markovs have the flu.' — ambiguous.
• Stage III (target only): U Peti est' masina. 'Peter has a car.' — possessive meaning only, no locative reading.

• stageI : RuOverlapExample
• stageII : RuOverlapExample
• stageIII : RuOverlapExample

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instDecidableEqRuOverlapExample : DecidableEq RuOverlapExample

Equations

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

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuOverlapExample.beq : RuOverlapExample → RuOverlapExample → Bool

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuOverlapExample.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuOverlapExample : BEq RuOverlapExample

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuOverlapExample = { beq := Fragments.Russian.Possession.instBEqRuOverlapExample.beq }

instance Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuOverlapExample : Repr RuOverlapExample

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuOverlapExample = { reprPrec := Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuOverlapExample.repr }

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.instReprRuOverlapExample.repr : RuOverlapExample → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

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

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.uGenNotions : List Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessiveNotion

The u + GEN construction covers most possessive notions in Russian. However, physical/temporary possession is its prototypical use (matching Location Schema predictions), and abstract possession often prefers imet' (Action Schema).

Equations

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

def Fragments.Russian.Possession.imetNotions : List Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessiveNotion

Equations

• Fragments.Russian.Possession.imetNotions = [Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessiveNotion.abstract, Phenomena.Possession.Typology.PossessiveNotion.permanent]

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

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

theorem Fragments.Russian.Possession.secondary_is_dual : Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.schemaYieldsHave secondarySchema = true ∧ Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.schemaYieldsBelong secondarySchema = true

Russian's secondary Action Schema can yield both have and belong, matching Heine's Table 2.4.

theorem Fragments.Russian.Possession.overlap_stages_ordered : Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.sourceOnly.degree < Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.overlap.degree ∧ Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.overlap.degree < Phenomena.Possession.Studies.Heine1997.OverlapStage.targetOnly.degree

The u construction coexists across all three Overlap stages in Russian, matching the paper's example (73a-d). Stage I and III are strictly ordered.

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

WALS F117A classifies Russian as locational, matching our primary Location Schema.