Swahili Possessive Constructions

[Sta09b] [Nic86] [Hei97]

Swahili (Bantu, Niger-Congo) derives its primary have-construction from the Companion Schema ("X is with Y" → "X has Y"). The possessive marker -na is a fusion of the copula -wa 'be' and the comitative preposition na 'with'. In the present tense unmarked form, the copula is deleted, leaving subject prefix + na as an unanalyzable possessive marker.

Swahili also has locative noun classes 16 (pa-), 17 (ku-), and 18 (mu-) that are relevant to possession via the Location Schema, and an Equation Schema belong-construction using the associative -a.

Per-language possession defs for Swahili (ISO swh). Substrate enums live in Linglib/Features/Possession.lean. Heine 1997 prediction verification for Swahili lives in Studies/Heine1997.lean. The adnominalStrategy := .headMarking here flattens the [Nic86] categorisation; Swahili's Bantu noun-class concord is strictly head-marking only in the agreement sense, with the associative particle a carrying class agreement to the possessum.

Possessive paradigm

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	ni-na	tu-na
2nd	u-na	m-na
3rd	a-na	wa-na

Examples

• Nina kitabu. 'I have a book.' (Companion: I-with book)
• Ana na watoto wawili. 'He/she has two children.' (lit. 'is with children two')
• Saa ni y-angu. 'The watch is mine.' (Equation: watch is of-me)

def Swahili.Possession.sourceSchema : Possession.Source

Swahili uses the Companion Schema for have-constructions: subject prefix + na (< -wa na 'be with').

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.sourceSchema = Possession.Source.companion

def Swahili.Possession.predicativeStrategy : Possession.PredicativeStrategy

Swahili's predicative strategy is comitative.

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.predicativeStrategy = Possession.PredicativeStrategy.comitative

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

The strategy matches the schema via predicativeSource.

def Swahili.Possession.possessiveForm (c : NounClass) : String

The possessive form: subject prefix + "na".

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possessiveForm c = c.subjPrefix ++ "na"

def Swahili.Possession.possForm1sg : String

First-person singular and plural forms use special prefixes.

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possForm1sg = "nina"

def Swahili.Possession.possForm1pl : String

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possForm1pl = "tuna"

def Swahili.Possession.possForm2sg : String

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possForm2sg = "una"

def Swahili.Possession.possForm2pl : String

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possForm2pl = "mna"

theorem Swahili.Possession.locative_uses_na : possessiveForm NounClass.cl16 = "pana" ∧ possessiveForm NounClass.cl17 = "kuna" ∧ possessiveForm NounClass.cl18 = "muna"

Locative classes use the same -na marker for "there is ... with", illustrating how Companion and Location schemas overlap in Swahili.

def Swahili.Possession.belongSchema : Possession.Source

Swahili's belong-construction uses the associative marker -a, with class-conditioned agreement: ni y-angu 'is of-me' (cl9). This is an instance of the Equation Schema: "Y is X's (property)".

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.belongSchema = Possession.Source.equation

theorem Swahili.Possession.have_belong_distinct : sourceSchema ≠ belongSchema

The have- and belong-schemas are distinct in Swahili, as predicted by Table 2.4: Companion → have only; Equation → belong only.

def Swahili.Possession.expressibleNotions : List Possession.Notion

Swahili -na covers all seven possessive notions — it is not restricted to a subset. This is characteristic of highly grammaticalized have-markers ([Hei97] §2.3).

Equations

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

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

All seven notions are expressible.

def Swahili.Possession.obligatoryPossession : Possession.Obligatoriness

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.obligatoryPossession = Possession.Obligatoriness.noObligatory

def Swahili.Possession.possessiveClassification : Possession.Classification

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.possessiveClassification = Possession.Classification.noClassification

def Swahili.Possession.adnominalStrategy : Possession.AdnominalMarking

Bantu noun-class concord: the associative particle a agrees with the possessum in class, so we follow WALS in coding adnominal as head-marking (the strict [Nic86] typology classifies it differently in some descriptions).

Equations

• Swahili.Possession.adnominalStrategy = Possession.AdnominalMarking.headMarking

def Swahili.Possession.affixPosition : Option Possession.AffixPosition

Equations

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