anomaly
From: alex
Message: 26657
Date: 2003-10-27
I have a question regarding a certain phenomenon which I see as kind of
anomaly.
Is there any IE language which requires for a genitive form of a noun
(in singular) which is in a certain relationship with the speaker, a
possessive pronoun (of the speaker) which is not for sg but for pl?
I guess an example is very good for this question thus I will give one
but first I will like to make a short introduction.
English possessive pronouns:
sg: my, your, his/her
pl. our, your, their
Rom. possessive pronouns :
sg: meu/mea, tãu/ta, sãu/sa
pl: mei/mele, tãi/tãle[!], sãi/sale
[!] "tãle" is not the literary form but the usual one. The literary
"correct" form is "tale"
OK, and now to the simple example:
English:
the shoe of my mother
the shoe of your mother
the shoe of his/her mother
In all these examples the possessive pronoun is in sg. since the mother
is just one, thus, perfectly explainable why "my, your, his/her" and not
"our, your, their".
Romanian:
pantoful mamei mele
pantoful mamei tale
pantoful mamei sale
That is strange. There is "mele, tãle, sale" the possessive plural
instead of the expected sg. "mea, ta, sa".
Should be this explained how? Etymologically?
I would like to mention that a such anomaly doesn't appears for
masculinum or neutrum:
(pantoful tatalui meu, pantoful tatalui tãu, pantoful tatalui sãu)
Miguel, Marius, any such "anomaly" in Romance? Can one see a certain
parallel in Romance for explaining this phenomenon which appears as
"anomaly" to me?
Piotr, any such anomaly in Slavic ?
Abdullah, any such anomaly in Albanian?
I am just very intrigued if this is indeed an anomaly or if this is
explainable etymologically.
Many thanks for your answers.
Alex