Editing Inalienable possession (section)

===Morphological markers===
====No overt possessive markers====
The [[South American language]] [[Dâw language|Dâw]] uses a special possessive [[morpheme]] (bold in the examples below) to indicate alienable possession.<ref name = Martins>{{cite book|last1=Martins|first1=Silvana Andrade|title=Fonologia e gramática Dâw|date=2004|publisher=LOT|location=Utrecht, Netherlands|pages=546–547}}</ref> The possessive morpheme '''''ɛ̃̀ɟ''''' in examples (3a) and (3b) indicates an alienable relationship between the possessor and the possessee.

{{interlinear|number=(3) a.
 |top= '''Alienable'''
 |tɔp   Tũk-'''ɛ̃̀ɟ'''
 |house Tũk-'''POSS'''
 |'Tũk's house'
}}
{{interlinear|number={{hidden text|(3)}} b.
 |tih-'''ɛ̃̀ɟ'''   cɤ̀g
 |3SG-'''POSS''' arrow
 |'his arrow'
 |bottom= (Martins 2004: 546)
}}

The possessive marker does not occur in inalienable possession constructions. Thus, the absence of '''''ɛ̃̀ɟ''''', as in example (4), indicates that the relationship between the possessor and the possessee is inalienable possession.

{{interlinear|number=(4)
 |top='''Inalienable'''
 |tih nũh
 |3SG head
 |‘his head'
 |bottom= (Martins 2004: 547)
}}

====Identical possessor deletion====
In [[Igbo language|Igbo]], a [[West African language]], the possessor is [[elision|deleted]] in a sentence if both its [[subject (grammar)|subject]] and the possessor of an inalienable noun [[reference|refer]] to the same entity.<ref name=Hyman>{{cite journal|last1=Hyman|first1=Larry M.|last2=Alford|first2=Danny|last3=Elizabeth|first3=Akpati|title=Inalienable Possession in Igbo|journal=Journal of West African Languages|date=1970|volume=VII|issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|87}} In (5a), both [[referent]]s are the same, but it is ungrammatical to keep both of them in a sentence. Igbo uses the processes of identical possessor deletion, and the '''''yá''''' (''his''), is dropped, as in the grammatical (5b).

{{interlinear|number=(5) a.
|* Ó sàra áka '''yá'''
|{} He<sub>i</sub> washed hands {'''his<sub>i</sub> (own)'''}
|'He<sub>i</sub> washed his<sub>i</sub> hands'
}}
{{interlinear|number={{hidden text|(5)}} b.
|Ó sàra áka
|He washed hands
|'He<sub>i</sub> washed his<sub>i</sub> hands'
|bottom= (Hyman et al. 1970: 87 (11, 12))
}}

A similar process occurs in some [[Slavic languages]], notably [[Serbian language|Serbian]]:

{{interlinear|number=(6) a.
|* Oprao je '''svoje''' ruke
|{} Washed he<sub>i</sub>.is {'''his<sub>i</sub> (own)'''} hands 
|'He<sub>i</sub> washed his<sub>i</sub> hands'
}}
{{interlinear|number={{hidden text|(6)}} b.
|Oprao je ruke
|Washed he.is hands
|'He<sub>i</sub> washed his<sub>i</sub> hands'
}}