Possession & Genitives
1 min read · 251 words
Possession and Genitives
Ekspi has two ways of expressing possession and “of” relationships: possessive pronouns and the genitive case.
1. Possessive Pronouns
Personal pronouns form possessive words by adding -j.
Pronoun | Possessive |
eu | euj |
tu | tuj |
peo | peoj |
pea | peaj |
ulo | ulo j |
ula | ulaj |
tū | tūj |
ītu | ītuj |
Possessive words are placed before the noun.
euj mar = my house
tuj mar = your house
peoj mar = his house
peaj mar = her house
Possessive words are fixed. They do not change for the gender, number, or case of the noun.
The noun itself still receives its normal endings.
euj mar = my house
euj mari = my houses
euj maren = my house (accusative)
euj mareni = my houses (accusative)
2. The Genitive Case
The genitive case uses the ending -ej.
It is used for broader “of” relationships and for possession involving a noun or noun phrase.
Noun + -ej
For example:
l’patej mar = the father’s house
l’marej dor = the door of the house
The genitive ending comes before the plural ending when the genitive noun is plural.
3. Possessive -j vs Genitive -ej
The two forms have different functions:
-j is used with pronouns to mean:
my
your
his
her
our
their
-ej is the genitive case used with nouns and broader “of” relationships.
A useful rule is:
-j belongs to pronouns. -ej belongs to nouns.
4. Summary
Pronoun + -j = possessive word
Noun + -ej = genitive
Possessive words come before the noun
Possessive words do not change
Genitive nouns follow normal case and plural rules