Finnish Possessive Constructions

[Sta09b] [Nic86] [Hei97]

Finnish (Uralic) derives its primary have-construction from the Location Schema ("Y is located at X" → "X has Y"). The construction consists of:

1. Possessor in adessive case (-lla / -llä 'on, at')
2. Possessum in nominative (= grammatical subject)
3. Copula olla 'to be'

The adessive case is etymologically locative ('on the surface of'), grammaticalized to mark the possessor. Finnish is a textbook example of the Location Schema reaching Stage III: the adessive in possessive use is no longer interpreted as locative by speakers ([Hei97] Overlap Model).

Per-language possession defs for Finnish (ISO fin). Substrate enums live in Linglib/Features/Possession.lean. Heine 1997 prediction verification for Finnish lives in Studies/Heine1997.lean.

Examples

• Minulla on kirja. 'I have a book.' (I.ADESS is book)
• Isällä on auto. 'Father has a car.' (father.ADESS is car)
• Minulla ei ole rahaa. 'I have no money.' (I.ADESS not be money.PART)

def Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema : Possession.Source

Finnish uses the Location Schema for its primary have-construction.

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema = Possession.Source.location

def Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy : Possession.PredicativeStrategy

Finnish's predicative strategy is locational/existential.

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy = Possession.PredicativeStrategy.locational

theorem Finnish.Possession.strategy_matches_schema : Possession.predicativeSource predicativeStrategy = sourceSchema

The strategy matches the schema via predicativeSource.

structure Finnish.Possession.FiPossessive : Type

Components of the Finnish possessive construction.

• possessorCase : String

  Possessor case: adessive (-lla, -llä; vowel harmony).

• possesseeCase : String

  Possessee case: nominative (subject of existential).

• copula : String

  Copula: olla 'to be'.

• negAux : String

  Negative auxiliary: ei (person-inflected) + ole (connegative).

• negPossesseeCase : String

  In negative, possessee takes partitive case instead of nominative.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive : DecidableEq FiPossessive

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive = Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive.decEq

def Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : FiPossessive) : Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive.repr : FiPossessive → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive : Repr FiPossessive

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive = { reprPrec := Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive.repr }

def Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction : FiPossessive

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction = { }

inductive Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson : Type

Finnish possessive suffixes on the possessum (attributive possession). These are declining in spoken Finnish but required in formal/written registers.

• first : FiPossPerson
• second : FiPossPerson
• third : FiPossPerson

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossPerson : DecidableEq FiPossPerson

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossPerson x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson : Repr FiPossPerson

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson = { reprPrec := Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson.repr }

def Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson.repr : FiPossPerson → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

inductive Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber : Type

• sg : FiPossNumber
• pl : FiPossNumber

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossNumber : DecidableEq FiPossNumber

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossNumber x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber.repr : FiPossNumber → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber : Repr FiPossNumber

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber = { reprPrec := Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber.repr }

def Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.toNumber : FiPossNumber → Number

The possessive paradigm's number dimension, canonically.

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.sg.toNumber = Number.singular
• Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.pl.toNumber = Number.plural

def Finnish.Possession.possSuffix : FiPossPerson → FiPossNumber → String

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.first Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.sg = "-ni"
• Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.second Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.sg = "-si"
• Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.third x✝ = "-nsa/-nsä"
• Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.first Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.pl = "-mme"
• Finnish.Possession.possSuffix Finnish.Possession.FiPossPerson.second Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber.pl = "-nne"

def Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy : Possession.AdnominalMarking

Adnominal genitive on the possessor (dependent-marking); the optional possessive suffix on the head (Matti-n kirja-nsa 'Matti-GEN book-POSS.3') adds a double-marking pattern in formal registers, but WALS codes Finnish as dependent-marking.

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy = Possession.AdnominalMarking.dependentMarking

def Finnish.Possession.expressibleNotions : List Possession.Notion

The adessive construction covers most possessive notions. Finnish, like Estonian, uses the Location Schema for both physical/temporary and permanent/inalienable possession — showing full Stage III grammaticalization (no location meaning remains).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem Finnish.Possession.covers_all_notions : expressibleNotions.length = 7

All seven notions are expressible, matching Swahili's coverage — both are at Stage III of grammaticalization.

def Finnish.Possession.obligatoryPossession : Possession.Obligatoriness

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.obligatoryPossession = Possession.Obligatoriness.noObligatory

def Finnish.Possession.possessiveClassification : Possession.Classification

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.possessiveClassification = Possession.Classification.noClassification

def Finnish.Possession.affixPosition : Option Possession.AffixPosition

Equations

• Finnish.Possession.affixPosition = some Possession.AffixPosition.suffixes