Possessive constructions in Chamacoco (Ɨshɨr ahwoso)

This paper describes possessive constructions in Chamacoco (Ɨshɨr ahwoso). After introducing the language and its main typological features (§1.1), I deal with the NP-internal possession, starting with the structure of the possessive NP (§2) and the types of relationships coded by possession (§3). Chamacoco nouns can be inflected or uninflected for possessor. The former nouns are discussed in Section 4. The inflectional properties of nouns and the semantics of the possessive relationships allow us to distinguish four sets of nouns (§5). The possessive inflection also includes a form for unspecified possessor, which has disappeared in most nouns, so new compensatory strategies have emerged (§6). Chamacoco NP-internal possession may also employ possessive classifiers, which agree in gender and number with the possessed, a rare feature (§7). Owing to language change, some possessive forms and NPs have acquired functions unrelated to possession (§8). I then address predicative possession, which can be based on existential constructions with the existential predicator =ɕ (§9) or on locational/existential constructions with the verb de (§10). Chamacoco also has a negative existential, which often occurs in negative possession (§11). Section 12 presents some final observations on predicative possession. Section 13 offers some general conclusions