Editing Inalienable possession (section)

====Possessor switch====
The distinction between alienable and inalienable possession constructions may be marked by a difference in word order. Igbo uses another [[syntax|syntactic]] process when the subject and the possessor refer to different entities.<ref name=Hyman/>{{rp|89}} In possessor switch, the possessor of the inalienable noun is placed as close as possible to the [[verb]].<ref name=Hyman/> In the following examples, the possessor '''''yá''''' is not deleted because both referents are different:

{{interlinear |lang=ig |number=(7) a.
|*  Ó  hùru áka
|{} He saw  hand
|'He<sub>i</sub> saw his<sub>j</sub> hand'
}}
{{interlinear |lang=ig |number={{hidden text|(7)}} b.
|Ó  hùru áka  '''yá'''
|He saw  hand '''his'''
|'He<sub>i</sub> saw his<sub>j</sub> hand'
|bottom=(Hyman et al. 1970: 87 (27, 28))
}}

In the ungrammatical (8a), the verb ''wàra'' (''to split'') follows the possessor '''''m'''''. Possessor switch requires the verb to be placed nearer to the possessor. The grammatical (8b) does so switching ''wàra'' with the possessor:

{{interlinear |lang=ig |number=(8) a.
|* ísi  m  wàra
|{} Head my split
|'I have a headache'
}}
{{interlinear |lang=ig |number={{hidden text|(8)}} b.
|ísi  wàra  m
|Head split {to me}
|'I have a headache'
|bottom=(Hyman et al. 1970: 87 (44, 45))
}}