A recurrent error in morphological glossing is the following: wherever a possessive noun phrase is formed, the gloss POSS is used. However, there are at least five different functions fulfilled by morphological formatives in possessive constructions. Only for one of them, the gloss POSS is used.

The glosses to be used are:

• possessive: POSS
• genitive: GEN
• proprietive: PRV
• property: PRY
• relationalizer: RLR

There are different nominal possessive constructions, and they may include a variety of grammatical formatives. S. also the section on case and function.

Possessive pronouns, indices and determiners

As with other kinds of pro-forms, a possessive determiner (like Engl. my) accompanies a (lexical-syntactic) nominal expression, while a possessive pronoun (like Engl. mine) represents a noun phrase with a dummy possessum head and a pronominal possessive attribute or complement. The gloss starts with POSS, as in .

The function of a possessive determiner may be fulfilled by a specialized form like Engl. my and as in , or just by a personal pronoun in the function of a possessive attribute or complement, as in . In the latter case, the language lacks a possessive determiner.

A gloss starting with Poss, like Poss.1.Sg, reads: ‘the possessor of the nominal expression thus determined is of person and number P’, where P is the set of pronominal features following the dot (here: first person singular). Such a gloss is analogous to a gloss like Obj.1.Sg on a verb form, meaning: ‘the object of this verb is of first person singular’.

Genitive

The genitive is a case relator on a nominal expression X meaning ‘X’s, of X’. The gloss is GEN. On nouns or noun phrases, the genitive typically is a member of a paradigm of case relators.

For a possessive pronoun or determiner, there are generally two options:

1. It may bear a genitive case morpheme like a lexical noun. This morphological composition is then brought out by the gloss, as in .
2. It bears no genitive, and instead its root is possessive. Then the gloss starts with POSS, as in and .

Proprietive

The proprietive is a case relator or a derivational formative on a nominal expression X meaning ‘(provided) with X, having X’, as in . The gloss is PRV.

Dummy possessum

A dummy possessum is a formative forming, together with a possessive attribute X, a construction with the generic meaning ‘property (of X), belonging to X’. The gloss is PRY.

The proprietive differs from the genitive in lacking an attributive function. I.o.w., proprietive expressions are not primarily adnominal dependents.

Relationalizer

A relationalizer is a formative which forms, together with a nominal expression – commonly, a noun – X, a construction with the meaning ‘X of’. It renders X relational, i.e. capable of taking a possessive dependent on the model of government. The gloss is RLR. above is an example.