Universal 1107: topic possessive ⇒ backgrounding of simultaneous sequences
- Original
- If a language has a Topic Possessive, that language will have backgrounding of simultaneous sequences.
- Standardized
- IF there is a Topic Possessive, THEN there is backgrounding of simultaneous sequences.
- Keywords
- possessive, backgrounding
- Domain
- syntax
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- sample of 300 languages
- Source
- Stassen 1998
- Counterexamples
The Topic Possessive. Features:(a) the main verb is the locative/existential item ‘to be’;(b) the possessed item is the grammatical subject;(c) the possessor is constructed outside the sentence nucleus, as a sentential topic, and may or may not be marked as such.Evaluation: confirmed for all 55 cases of Topic Possessive.