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Semantics and syntax of the to possessive in English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Robert L. Chapman
Robert L. Chapman
Affiliation:
Drew University, Maddison, New Jersey, U.S.A.
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Extract

The to possessive may be defined as that phrasal possessive construction using to which interchanges with either an inflected possessive or an of possessive or both, and with a sentence using a form of the verb have. For example:

(1) father to the bride (to possessive, henceforth to-Poss)

(2) bride's father (inflected possessive, henceforth gen-Poss)

(3) father of the bride (of possessive, henceforth of-Poss)

(4) the bride has this father.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , March 1975 , pp. 63 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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References

REFERENCES

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