On the differences between adnominal and external possession in Ishkashimi

Abstract

This paper discusses two particles that mark possession in Ishkashimi: -no and-noy. These markers are not in free variation; -noy can only mark adnominalpossession, while -no can mark external possession. This will be argued foron the basis of distributional and interpretational differences between the twomarkers. Unlike the marker -noy, -no can appear in the context of nominal ellipsisand possessive predicates. A -noy-marked possessor has to be adjacent to thepossessed noun and precede it; a -no-marked possessor does not have these adjacencyrequirements. In the context of possessor doubling, -noy is only compatiblewith 3rd person. In the case of negation, when the existence of the possessedis denied, only the -no marker is licensed. The differences in the distribution ofthe two markers correlate with their morphological differences; unlike -no, -noyis morphologically complex and encodes the person of the possessor.