Squib: Where are the possessors?

Abstract

Abney (1987) introduces and develops the idea that nominal possessors are structurally analogous to subjects of transitive verbs. Except for changes in implementation, his proposal can still be regarded as the standard theory of nominal possession in Generative Grammar. If textbook presence is a good correlate of acceptation of a theory, note that among the textbooks that follow Abney in assuming that nominal possessors are structurally analogous to subjects of transitive verbs are Adger (2003), Radford (2004), and Carnie (2006) (see also Bernstein (2001), a survey paper on noun phrases2).