In possessive constructions subject-final languages always present full noun phrase possessors after the head (the possessed) noun phrase.
Standardized
IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN full noun phrase possessors always follow the head (the possessed) noun phrase.
Keywords
order, subject, object, attributive
Domain
syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
Malagasy, Batak [Toba Dialect], Fijian, Gilbertese (all Malayo-Polynesian), Tzeltal (Mayan), Otomi (Oto-Manguean), Ineseño Chumash (Hokan), Baure (Arawakan), Tzotzil, Kekchi (both Mayan), Tsou (Formosan, Austronesian), although the last three languages are not surveyed in the paper
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. Cf. W. Lehmann’s claim (#107); Lehmann supposes that attribitive expression should follow the head noun in VO languages. The languages surveyed by Keenan are of VOS order, therefore it is questionable whether the order of possessor and possessee NPs is dependent on the property of being subject-final.
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. Cf. W. Lehmann’s claim (#107); Lehmann supposes that attribitive expression should follow the head noun in VO languages. The languages surveyed by Keenan are of VOS order, therefore it is questionable whether the order of possessor and possessee NPs is dependent on the property of being subject-final.