Ingrammar, thegenitive case (abbreviatedgen)[2] is thegrammatical case that marks a word, usually anoun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating anattributive relationship of one noun to the other noun.[3] A genitive can also serve purposes indicating other relationships. For example, someverbs may featurearguments in the genitive case; and the genitive case may also haveadverbial uses (seeadverbial genitive).
Thegenitive construction includes the genitive case, but is a broader category. Placing a modifying noun in the genitive case is one way of indicating that it is related to ahead noun, in a genitive construction. However, there are other ways to indicate a genitive construction. For example, manyAfroasiatic languages place the head noun (rather than the modifying noun) in theconstruct state.
Possessive grammatical constructions, including the possessive case, may be regarded as subsets of the genitive construction. For example, the genitive construction "pack of dogs” is similar, but not identical in meaning to the possessive case "dogs' pack" (and neither of these is entirely interchangeable with "dog pack", which is neither genitive nor possessive).Modern English is an example of a language that has a possessive case rather than aconventional genitive case. That is, Modern English indicates a genitive construction with either the possessiveclitic suffix "-'s", or aprepositional genitive construction such as "x of y". However, some irregular English pronouns do have possessive forms which may more commonly be described as genitive (seeEnglish possessive). The names of the astronomical constellations have genitive forms which are used in star names, for example the starMintaka in the constellationOrion (genitive Orionis) is also known as Delta Orionis or 34 Orionis.
as anagent ("She benefited fromher father's love") – this is called thesubjective genitive (Compare "Her father loved her", whereHer father is thesubject.)
as apatient ("the loveof music") – this is called theobjective genitive (Compare "She loves music", wheremusic is theobject.)
origin ("menof Rome")
reference ("the capitalof the Republic"or "the Republic's capital")
description ("manof honour", "dayof reckoning")
compounds ("doomsday" ("doom's day"),Scottish Gaelic "ball coise" = "football", where "coise" = gen. of "cas", "foot")
Depending on the language, some of the relationships mentioned above have their own distinct cases different from the genitive.
Possessive pronouns are distinct pronouns, found in Indo-European languages such as English, that function like pronouns inflected in the genitive. They are considered separate pronouns if contrasting to languages where pronouns are regularly inflected in the genitive. For example, Englishmy is either a separatepossessive adjective or an irregular genitive ofI, while in Finnish, for example,minun is regularlyagglutinated fromminu- "I" and-n (genitive).
In some languages, nouns in the genitive case alsoagree in case with the nouns they modify (that is, it is marked for two cases). This phenomenon is calledsuffixaufnahme.
In some languages, nouns in the genitive case may be found ininclusio – that is, between the main noun'sarticle and the noun itself.
Old English had a genitive case, which has left its mark in modern English in the form of the possessive ending 's (now sometimes referred to as the "Saxon genitive"), as well as possessive adjective forms such ashis,their, etc., and in certain words derived fromadverbial genitives such asonce andafterwards. (Other Old English case markers have generally disappeared completely.) The modern English possessive forms are not normally considered to represent a grammatical case, although they are sometimes referred to as genitives or as belonging to apossessive case. One of the reasons that the status of's as a case ending is often rejected is that it does not behave as such, but rather as a clitic marking that indicates that a dependency relationship exists between phrases. One can saythe King's war, but alsothe King of France's war, where the genitive marker is attached to the full noun phrasethe King of France, whereas case markers are normally attached to thehead of a phrase.In languages having a true genitive case, such as Old English, this example may be expressed asþes cynges wyrre of France,[4] literally "the King's war of France", with the's attaching tothe King.
In Finnish, prototypically the genitive is marked with-n, e.g.maa – maan "country – of the country". The stem may change, however, withconsonant gradation and other reasons. For example, in certain words ending in consonants,-e- is added, e.g.mies – miehen "man – of the man", and in some, but not all words ending in-i, the-i is changed to an-e-, to give-en, e.g.lumi – lumen "snow – of the snow". The genitive is used extensively, with animate and inanimate possessors. In addition to the genitive, there is also apartitive case (marked-ta/-tä or-a/-ä) used for expressing that something is a part of a larger mass, e.g.joukko miehiä "a group of men".
In Estonian, the genitive marker-n has elided with respect to Finnish. Thus, the genitive always ends with a vowel, and the singular genitive is sometimes (in a subset of words ending with a vocal in nominative) identical in form to nominative.
In Finnish, in addition to the uses mentioned above, there is a construct where the genitive is used to mark a surname. For example,Juhani Virtanen can be also expressedVirtasen Juhani ("Juhani of the Virtanens").
A complication in Finnic languages is that theaccusative case-(e)n is homophonic to the genitive case. This case does not indicate possession, but is a syntactic marker for the object, additionally indicating that the action istelic (completed). InEstonian, it is often said that only a "genitive" exists. However, the cases have completely different functions, and the form of the accusative has developed from *-(e)m. (The same sound change has developed into a synchronic mutation of a finalm inton in Finnish, e.g. genitivesydämen vs. nominativesydän.) This homophony has exceptions inFinnish, where a separate accusative-(e)t is found in pronouns, e.g.kenet "who (telic object)", vs.kenen "whose".
A difference is also observed in some of the relatedSámi languages, where the pronouns and the plural of nouns in the genitive and accusative are easily distinguishable from each other, e.g.,kuä'cǩǩmi "eagles' (genitive plural)" andkuä'cǩǩmid "eagles (accusative plural)" inSkolt Sami.
The genitive singular definite article for masculine and neuter nouns isdes, while the feminine and plural definite article isder. The indefinite articles areeines for masculine and neuter nouns, andeiner for feminine and plural nouns (although the bare form cannot be used in the plural, it manifests inkeiner,meiner, etc.)
Singular masculine and neuter nouns of the strong declension in the genitive case are marked with-(e)s. Generally, one-syllable nouns favour the-es ending, and it is obligatory with nouns ending with a sibilant such ass orz. Otherwise, a simple-s ending is usual. Feminine and plural nouns remain uninflected:
des Beitrags (of the contribution) – masculine
der Blume (of the flower) – feminine
des Landes (of the country) – neuter
der Bäume (of the trees) – plural
Singular masculine nouns (and one neuter noun) of the weak declension are marked with an-(e)n (or rarely-(e)ns) ending in the genitive case:
The genitive personal pronouns are quite rare and either very formal, literary or outdated. They are as follows (with comparison to the nominative pronouns):
Nominative
Genitive
ich (I)
meiner
du (you sg.)
deiner
er (he)
seiner
es (it)
wir (we)
unser
ihr (you pl.)
euer
Sie (you formal sg./pl.)
Ihrer
sie (she/they)
ihrer
Some examples:
Würden Sie stattmeiner gehen? (Would you go insteadof me?)
Wir sindihrer nicht würdig (We are not worthyof her/them)
The genitive case is occasionally found in connection with certain verbs (some of which require an accusative before the genitive); they are mostly either formal or legal:
Die Stadt erfreut sicheines günstigen Klimas (The city enjoysa favourable climate)
Gedenken Sieder Totendes Krieges (Rememberthose who died in (the) war)
Wer klagte ihndes Mordesan? (Who accused himof murder?)
Man verdächtigt euchdes Betrugs (Someone suspects youof (committing) fraud)
Theablative case of Indo-European was absorbed into the genitive in Classical Greek.[5] This added to the usages of the "genitive proper", the usages of the "ablatival genitive". The genitive occurs with verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions.See alsoGenitive absolute.
TheHungarian genitive is constructed using the suffix-é.
madár ('bird');madáré ('bird's')
The genitive-é suffix is only used with the predicate of a sentence: it serves the role of mine, yours, hers, etc. The possessed object is left in the nominative case. For example:
A csőr a madáré ('The beak is the bird's').
If the possessor is not the predicate of the sentence, the genitive is not used. Instead, the possessive suffixes (-(j)e or-(j)a in the third person singular, depending onvowel harmony) mark the possessed object. The possessor is left in the nominative if it directly precedes the possessed object (otherwise it takes a dative-nak/-nek suffix). For example:
csőr ('beak');csőre ('its beak')
a madár csőre/csőre a madárnak ('the bird's beak')
In addition, the suffix-i ('of') is also used. For example:
Japanese construes the genitive by using thegrammatical particleno の. It can be used to show a number of relationships to the head noun. For example:
猫の手neko-no te ("cat's paw")
学生の一人gakusei-no hitori ("one of the students)
金の指輪kin-no yubiwa ("a ring of gold")
京都のどこKyouto-no doko ("where of (in) Kyoto")
富士の山Fuji-no yama ("the mountain of Fuji" [Mt. Fuji])
The archaic genitive case particle-ga ～が is still retained in certain expressions, place names, and dialects. Possessivega can also be written as asmall ke (ヶ), for example inKasumigaoka (霞ヶ丘).[6]
Typically, languages have nominative case nouns converting into genitive case. It has been found, however, that theKansai dialect of Japanese will in rare cases allow accusative case to convert to genitive, if specific conditions are met in the clause in which the conversion appears. This is referred to as "Accusative-Genitive conversion."[7]
The genitive is one of the cases of nouns and pronouns inLatin. Latin genitives still have certain modern scientific uses:
Scientific names of living things sometimes contain genitives, as in the plant nameBuddleja davidii, meaning "David's buddleia". Heredavidii is the genitive ofDavidius, aLatinized version of the Hebrew name. It is not capitalized because it is the second part of a binomial name.
Names of astronomical constellations are Latin, and the genitives of their names are used in naming objects in those constellations, as in theBayer designation of stars. For example, the brightest star in the constellationVirgo is calledAlpha Virginis, which is to say "Alpha of Virgo", asvirginis is the genitive ofvirgō. Plural forms and adjectives also decline accordingly: pluralAlpha Piscium (Pisces) andAlpha Canum Venaticorum (Canes Venatici) versus singularAlpha Piscis Austrini (Piscis Austrinus) andAlpha Canis Majoris (Canis Major). Astronomy manuals often list the genitive forms, as some are easy to get wrong even with a basic knowledge of Latin, e.g.Vela, which is a neuter plural not a feminine singular:Delta Velorum not *Delta Velae.
Modus operandi, which can be translated to English as "mode of operation", in whichoperandi is a singular genitivegerund (i.e. "of operation"), not a plural ofoperandus as is sometimes mistakenly assumed.
This sectionmay have misleading content. Please helpclarify the content.(October 2013)
TheIrish language also uses a genitive case (tuiseal ginideach). For example, in the phrasebean an tí (woman of the house),tí is the genitive case ofteach, meaning "house". Another example isbarr an chnoic, "top of the hill", wherecnoc means "hill", but is changed tochnoic, which also incorporateslenition.
Old Persian had a true genitive case inherited fromProto-Indo-European. By the time ofMiddle Persian, the genitive case had been lost and replaced by an analytical construction which is now calledEzāfe. This construction was inherited byNew Persian, and was also later borrowed into numerous otherIranic,Turkic andIndo-Aryan languages of Western and South Asia.
Called المجرورal-majrūr (meaning "dragged") or المخفوضal-makhfūḍ (meaning "lowered") inArabic, the genitive case functions both as an indication of ownership (ex. the doorof the house) and for nouns following a preposition.
Nominative: ٌبيتbaytun (a house)
Genitive: ٍبابُ بيتbābu baytin (door of a house) ِبابُ البيتbābu l-bayti (door of the house)
The Arabic genitive marking also appears after prepositions.
e.g. ٍبابٌ لبيتbābun li-baytin (a doorfor a house)
The Semitic genitive should not be confused with the pronominal possessive suffixes that exist in all the Semitic languages
e.g. Arabic بيتيbayt-ī (my house) َكتابُكkitābu-ka (your [masc.] book).
With the exception of Bulgarian and Macedonian, allSlavic languages decline the nouns and adjectives in accordance with the genitive case using a variety of endings depending on the word'slexical category, its gender, number (singular or plural) and in some cases meaning. For instance, in RussianBroutona (lit.Broughton's) island name, its genitive/possessive case is created by addingaaffix to the explorer's name.
To indicate possession the ending of the noun indicating the possessor changes depending on the word's ending in thenominative case. For example, toa, u, i, ory inPolish,а, я, ы, orи inRussian,а, я, y, ю, і, и orей inUkrainian, and similar cases in other Slavic languages.
Possessives can also be formed by the construction (pol.) "u [subject] jest [object]" / (rus.) "У [subject] есть [object]"/ (ukr.) "у(в) [subject] є [object]"
Genitive: (pol.) "u Antonа jest obiad / (rus.) "У Антона есть обед" / (ukr.) "У(В) Антона є обід" ("Anton has a lunch", literally: "(There) is a lunch at Anton's").
In sentences where the possessor includes an associated pronoun, the pronoun also changes:
Nominative: (pol.) Oto mój brat / (rus.) "Вот мой брат"/ (ukr.) "От мій брат" ("Here is my brother").
Genitive: (pol.) "u mojego bratа jest obiad / (rus.) "У моего брата есть обед" / (ukr.) "У мого брата є обід" ("My brother has a lunch", literally: "(There) is a lunch at my_brother's").
And in sentences denoting negative possession, the ending of the object noun also changes:
Genitive: (pol.) "Irena/Kornelia nie ma obiadu ("Irene/Kornelia does not have a lunch") or (pol.) "u Ireny/Kornelii nie ma obiadu ("(There) is no lunch at Irene's/Kornelia's")
The Polish phrase "nie ma [object]" can work both as a negation of having [object] or a negation of an existence of [object], but the meaning of the two sentences and its structure is different. (In the first case [subject] is Irene, and in the second case [subject] is virtual, it is "the space" at Irene's place, not Irene herself)
Genitive: (rus.) "У Ирены/Корнелии нет обеда" ("Irene/Kornelia does not have a lunch", literally: "(There) is no lunch at Irene's/Kornelia's").
The Russian word "нет" is a contraction of "не" + "есть". In Russian there is no distinction between [subject] not having an [object] and [object] not being present at [subject]'s.
Genitive: (ukr.) "Ірена/Корнелія не має обіду ("Irene does not have a lunch") or (ukr.) "y Ірени/Корнелії нема(є) обіду ("At Irene's does not have a lunch")
Note the difference between the spelling "не має [object]" and "нема(є) [object]" in both cases.
The genitive case is also used in sentences expressing negation, even when no possessive relationship is involved. The ending of the subject noun changes just as it does in possessive sentences. The genitive, in this sense, can only be used to negate nominative, accusative and genitive sentences, and not other cases.
Nominative: (pol.) "(Czy) Maria jest w domu?" / (rus.) "Мария дома?" / (Чи) Марія (є) вдома? ("Is Maria at home?").
Genitive: (pol.) "Marii nie ma w domu" ("Maria is not at home", literally: "[virtual subject] has no Maria at home")
Genitive: (rus.) "Марии нет дома" ("Maria is not at home", literally: "Of Maria there is none at home.").
Genitive: (ukr.) "Марії нема(є) вдома" ("Maria is not at home", literally: "[virtual subject] has no Maria at home.")
Accusative: (pol.) "Mogę rozczytać twoje pismo" / (rus.) Могу (про)читать твой почерк / (ukr.) Можу (про)читати твій почерк ("I can read your handwriting")
Use of genitive for negation is obligatory inSlovene,Polish andOld Church Slavonic. Some East Slavic languages ( e.g.Russian andBelarusian) employ either the accusative or genitive for negation, although the genitive is more commonly used. InCzech,Slovak andSerbo-Croatian, negating with the genitive case is perceived as rather archaic and the accusative is preferred, but genitive negation in these languages is still not uncommon, especially in music and literature.[9]
The genitive case is used with some verbs andmass nouns to indicate that the action covers only a part of the direct object (having a function of non-existing partitive case), whereas similar constructions using theAccusative case denote full coverage. Compare the sentences:
Genitive: (pol.) "Napiłem się wody" / (rus.) "Я напился воды" / (ukr.) "Я напився води" ("I drank water," i.e. "I drank some water, part of the water available")
Accusative: (pol.) "Wypiłem wodę" / (rus.) "Я выпил воду / (ukr.) "Я випив воду ("I drankthe water," i.e. "I drank all the water, all the water in question")
In Russian, specialpartitive case or sub-case is observed for some uncountable nouns which in some contexts have preferred alternative form on -у/ю instead of standard genitive on -а/я: выпил чаю ('drank some tea'), but сорта чая ('sorts of tea').
The genitive case is also used in many prepositional constructions. (Usually when some movement or change of state is involved, and when describing the source / destination of the movement. Sometimes also when describing the manner of acting.)
Czech prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do (into), bez (without), kromě (excepting), místo (instead of), podle (after, according to), podél (along), okolo (around), u (near, by), vedle (beside), během (during), pomocí (using, by the help of), stran (as regards) etc.
Polish prepositions using genitive case: od (from), z, ze (from), do, w (into), na (onto), bez (without), zamiast (instead of), wedle (after, according to), wzdłuż (along), około (around), u (near, by), koło (beside), podczas (during), etc.
Russian prepositions using genitive case: от (from), с, со (from), до (before, up to), без (without), кроме (excepting), вместо (instead of), после (after), вдоль (along), около (around), у (near, by), во время (during), насчёт (regarding), etc.
TheTurkish genitive, formed with a genitive suffix for the possessor, is used in combination with a possessive for the possessed entity, formed with apossessive suffix. For example, in "my mother's mother", the possessor is "my mother", and the possessed entity is "[her] mother". In Turkish:
The genitive inAlbanian is formed with the help of clitics. For example:
Nominative:libër ('book');vajzë ('girl');
Genitive:libri i vajzës (the girl's book)
If the possessed object is masculine, the clitic isi. If the possessed object is feminine, the clitic ise. If the possessed object is plural, the clitic ise regardless of the gender.
The genitive is used with some prepositions:me anë ('by means of'),nga ana ('on behalf of', 'from the side of'),për arsye ('due to'),për shkak ('because of'),me përjashtim ('with the exception of'),në vend ('instead of').
In Tamil, the genitive case ending is the word உடைய or இன், which signifies possession. Depending on the last letter of the noun, the genitive case endings may vary.
If the last letter is a consonant (மெய் எழுத்து), like க், ங், ச், ஞ், ட், ண், த், ந், ப், ம், ய், ர், ல், வ், ழ், then the suffix உடைய/இன் gets added. *Examples: His: அவன் + உடைய = அவனுடைய, Doctor's: மருத்துவர் + உடைய = மருத்துவருடைய, மருத்துவர் + இன் = மருத்துவரின் Kumar's: குமார் + உடைய = குமாருடைய, குமார்+ இன் = குமாரின்
^Shin'ya, Asano; Hiroyuki Una (February 2010). "Mood and Case: with special reference to genitive Case conversion in Kansai Japanese".Journal of East Asian Linguistics.19 (1):37–59.doi:10.1007/s10831-009-9055-y.S2CID123519063.
^Olga Kagan (2007)."Property-Denoting NPs and Non-Canonical Genitive Case"(PDF).Proceedings of the 17th Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference. CLC Publications, Cornell University.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2011-07-19. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2013.
^Sridhar, S. N. (2007).Modern Kannada Grammar. pp. 93–94.ISBN9788173047671.
