LINGUIST List 5.1373

Thu 01 Dec 1994

Sum: Possession--have/hold/compulsion/existence

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. gor05, "SUM: HAVE/HOLD/COMPULSION/EXISTENCE

About a month ago, I posted an enquiry asking for help in finding non-IE
languages, in which there was a connection between any of the following
expressions:
'hold' and 'possess', synchronically or diachronically
'exist' and 'possess'
'must/should' and 'possess'

and I was quite happy about the enthusiastic reponse (around 20 of you
contacted me). So, for all who are interested, here is a short summary. I
hope I haven't left anyone out and that I haven't confused anything, as I
know next to nothing about the languages you all told me about. There was
also the small 'disaster' with my email - I accidentally deleted some of
your answers, so I apologize if you answered but don't find your name in
the list. I would like to take the chance now to thank all those who did
answer with information on the following languages:

Japanese:
Here, the verb mot- 'hold' can also be used to a large extent for 'possess',
but not for 'existence' or 'compulsion'
Also, an anonymous reply pointed out another construction for 'possess'
with aru- 'exist', but was not sure about the difference in meaning between
'possess' with mot- and 'possess' with aru.

Basque:
*edun (nowadays -du-) is used for possession and as an auxiliary. In
addition, in the South, the verb eduki 'hold' has also to some extent been
grammaticalized to denote 'possess' and also 'perfect' with transitive
verbs, while intransitives form the perfect with izan 'be'. This
development seems to be following the lines of the development Latin)
Romance.

Hebrew:
There is no verb 'possess' in Hebrew: possession is expressed
periphrastically (with the "dative"). Interestingly, here also there is a
connection between 'possess' and 'compulsion' and 'existence', which all
apparently use this construction.

Aramaic:
In many Aramaic dialects, the earlier construction 'past participle +
dative ('l') + pronoun' became the past tense. L is now predominantly used
for a goal with verbs of motion, but is also used for possession.

Arabic:
In Cairene Colloquial Arabic, anda 'at/near/by' is used for possession and
is then negated like a verb, not like a preposition.

Tamil
iru 'be (located)' + dative is used for possession and for durative /
continuous aspect, but not for perfect/perfective. KoL 'hold', although not
used for 'possess' can be combined with iru and denotes that the action is
one of the following: self-benefactive, reflexive, deliberate and/or
accidental (depending on what was expected).

Crow:
'exist'/'not-exist' is not only used for existence but also 'possess' and
perfective aspect.

Finish:
pitaa 'hold' can also be used to express 'compulsion' but interestingly,
NOT 'possess'.

Dakota:
yuha 'hold' may also be used to some extent for 'have', otherwise 'be with'
is used.

Chinese:
yong3yiu3, where yong3 denotes 'embrace', can also be used to express
'possess, own'. To stress that one has total control, one may use
zhung3yiu3, where zhung3 denotes 'hold in one's palm'
(yiu3 is 'possess', 'existence' and can also be used for
'perfect' with questions and negative statements)

Idg *ghebh 'give' -) Latin habeo 'hold'

And finally, a few tips for further reading:

Bernd Heine: Grammaticaliztion: A Conceptual Framework.
W. Welmers: African Language Structures
Kathleen Carey's doctoral thesis on 'have' as 'possess' and 'perfect' in
the Romance langauges, Dept. of Linguistics, UCSD
Robert Hoberman, The Syntax and Semantics of Verb Morphology in Modern
Aramaic (American Oriental Society), 1989
Simon Hopkins, "Neo-Aramaic dialects and the formation of the Preterite",
Journal of Semantic Studies 34:413-432, 1989
J. Vendryes, "Sur l'emploi de l'auxiliaire (<avoir)> pour marquer le passe"
,Melanges de Linguistique et de Philologie offerts a Jacq. van Ginneken,
Paris: 1937.
E. Benveniste: "La Construction passive du parfait transitif", Bulletin de
la Societe de linguistique de Paris, 1952, 48., 136:52-62.

Many thanks to all who responded. Due to my accidental deletion, some of
you unfortunately only appear as an address. Those who responded were:

benedr5r.edr.co.jp
gkinkleyuhuni.uhcc.Hawaii.edu
Larry Trask: larrytcogs.susx.ac.uk
editvms.huji.ac.il
Robert Hoberman: Rhobermansbccmail.bitnet
Kirk Belnap: belnapkyvax.byu.edu
haroldfsu.washington.edu
Karen Wallace: WallaceBIOLOGY.UCLA.edu
John E. Koontz: koontzalpha.bldr.nist.gov
SIIROINENFINUH.bitnet
Wenchao Li
ISHAWNDSUVM1.bitnet
Bert Peeters: Bert.Peetersmodlang.utas.edu.au
elc9jfaraday.clas.virginia.edu
kemmerruf.rice.edu
C. Jan-Wouter Zwart: zwartletrug.nl
Malcolm.Rossanu.edu.au
RCosperHusky1.STMARYS.ca

John Peterson, Kiel, Germany, e-mail:gor05rz.uni-kiel.d400.de