Universal 1585: dependent-marked possession ⇒ alienable possession;
head-marked possession ⇒ inalienable possession

Universal 1585: dependent-marked possession ⇒ alienable possession;
head-marked possession ⇒ inalienable possession

Original

The inalienables take marking which is more nearly head-marking or less dependent-marking than the marking of alienables.

Standardized

Provided there is a split in the marking of possession, inalienable possession tends to be encoded through head-marking and alienable possession through dependent-marking.

Keywords

possession, inalienable, alienable, head-marking, dependent-marking

Domain

inflection, syntax, semantics

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

absolute

Basis

every language family and language isolate attested for North America (excluding only those six: Alsea, Beothuk, Cayuse, Kalapuyan, Molala, Yanan), also North Eurasian language families and several Australian languages

Source

Nichols 1988: 578, Nichols 1992: 117

Counterexamples

In Dizi (Omotic, Afro-Asiatic), alienable possession is signalled by juxtaposition plus tone sandhi, while inlienable possession is marked by affixation on the possessor (Nichols 1992: 119).