Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-8gtf8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-24T18:06:41.714Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A note on ‘elliptical’, ‘absolute’, and ‘independent’ genitives in earlier English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2004

CYNTHIA L. ALLEN
CYNTHIA L. ALLEN
Affiliation:
School of Language Studies, Building 110, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australiacindy.allen@anu.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A well-known peculiarity of Modern English is that nominal possessives can occur in ‘elliptical’ constructions in which no head noun is expressed:

(1)(a) We'll meet at Mary's.

(b) This is Mary's.

(c) Mary's is red.

Type
Squib
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , November 2004 , pp. 351 - 354
Copyright
Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)