Finnish Possessive Constructions

@cite{stassen-2009} @cite{nichols-1986} @cite{heine-1997}

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 (@cite{heine-1997} Overlap Model).

PossessionProfile bundle for Finnish (ISO fin), per the project's "per-language data flows through Fragments" rule. Substrate types live in Linglib/Typology/Possession.lean. Heine 1997 prediction verification for Finnish lives in Phenomena/Possession/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 Fragments.Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema : Typology.Possession.PossessionSource

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

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.sourceSchema = Typology.Possession.PossessionSource.location

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy : Typology.Possession.PredicativePossession

Finnish's predicative strategy is locational/existential.

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.predicativeStrategy = Typology.Possession.PredicativePossession.locational

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

The strategy matches the schema via predicativeSource.

structure Fragments.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 Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossessive : DecidableEq FiPossessive

Equations

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

def Fragments.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.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive : Repr FiPossessive

Equations

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

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossessive.repr : FiPossessive → Nat → Std.Format

Equations

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

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction : FiPossessive

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.primaryConstruction = { }

inductive Fragments.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 Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossPerson : DecidableEq FiPossPerson

Equations

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

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson : Repr FiPossPerson

Equations

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

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossPerson.repr : FiPossPerson → Nat → Std.Format

Equations

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inductive Fragments.Finnish.Possession.FiPossNumber : Type

• sg : FiPossNumber
• pl : FiPossNumber

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instDecidableEqFiPossNumber : DecidableEq FiPossNumber

Equations

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

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber : Repr FiPossNumber

Equations

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

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.instReprFiPossNumber.repr : FiPossNumber → Nat → Std.Format

Equations

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

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

Equations

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

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy : Typology.Possession.AdnominalPossession

Finnish marks possession on the possessum (head-marking) via the possessive suffixes above. It also uses the genitive case on the possessor NP (dependent-marking), giving a double-marking pattern in formal registers: Matti-n kirja-nsa 'Matti-GEN book-POSS.3'.

Equations

• Fragments.Finnish.Possession.adnominalStrategy = Typology.Possession.AdnominalPossession.doubleMarking

def Fragments.Finnish.Possession.expressibleNotions : List Typology.Possession.PossessiveNotion

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 Fragments.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 Fragments.Finnish.Possession.possession : Typology.Possession.PossessionProfile

Finnish possession profile.

Equations

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