MI’GMAQ
SUMMARY
In Mig'maq, in the context of an applicative suffix on the verb, but not otherwise, the possessor of the direct object can control object agreement on the verb, rather than the direct object itself. Agreement features are person and number. Possessors of subjects or other objects cannot control agreement on the verb, including derived subjects in passives. Possessors that control agreement are arguably topical.
See also Chimane, Nxaʔamxcin, Spokane, Tseltal, Tzotzil (Zinacantán).
LANGUAGE PROFILE
EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF PIPS
- In available examples, possession is marked directly on the possessed noun through person and number marking of the possessor and thus is inherently internal when there is a pronominal possessor.
KEY SOURCES
Hamilton, Michael D. 2017. Ditransitive constructions and possessor raising in Mi'gmaq, in M. Macaulay and M. Noodin (eds), Papers of the Forty-Sixth Algonquian Conference, 81-100. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
McClay, Elise. 2012. Possession in Mi'gmaq. Honours thesis, McGill University.
