Determiner Phrase or Genitive Phrase?
An examination of possessive structures in Danish and English
Keywords:
Dialects, Generative grammar, Comparative syntax, Possessive constructionAbstract
This paper seeks to analyze the possessive construction in English and Danish through the lens of two competing analytical frameworks. First, the two frameworks – the Genitive Phrase model and the Determiner Phrase model - are presented and strengths and weaknesses are accounted for. Then, the frameworks are applied to standard possessive constructions from Danish and English. Finally, a unique construction from a dialect of Danish is introduced and tested against the two models. This paper finds that the Determiner Phrase model has a more complete explanation for the different examples.
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