His Genitive - Parallels in Other Germanic Languages

Parallels in Other Germanic Languages

Constructions parallel to the "his" genitive are found in other Germanic languages.

• In dialects of German, equivalent constructions like dem Mann sein Haus ("the man-dative his house" instead of genitive case: das Haus des Mannes, or des Mannes Haus, which is archaic) are found. This use has spread to some varieties of colloquial German, but heavily violates standard German grammar. By those who do not employ it, the construction is widely perceived as unaesthetic. Usage of the construction is commonly ridiculed or even scorned, especially as revealing lack of education, by those speakers. The construction is deliberately used as a pun in the title of Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, a very popular series of three books on common German language mistakes, critically acclaimed for their humour, by German journalist and author Bastian Sick.

• The modern Saxon language, commonly known as Low German, developed this form of Genitive as early as in the Middle Ages. Early stages included mixture forms of Genitive and his-construction: Des fischers sin hus (the fisherman's his house). Later development brought forth two kinds of Dative constructions existing alongside the proper Genitive: Deme fischer sin hus (the fisherman his house) and dat hus van deme fischer (the house of the fisherman) next to des fischers hus (the fisherman's house). Not every class and dialect used both forms with equal part. Some of the German speakers making the aforementioned mistakes might trace this back to the time when Low German (or, in some regions, Dutch) was the language of the lower classes, before High German was established as first language in all regions and classes.

• In Dutch the construction is common in the spoken language, and dependent on the gender of the possessor (and in most Belgian Dutch dialects on the gender of the object as well). In the Netherlands, the possessive pronouns are represented as they are spoken, in their informal, unstressed form: Jan z'n fiets, "Jan his bicycle" meaning Jan's bicycle; Anja d'r tas, "Anja her bag". In Belgian Dutch, the full form is common: Jan zijn fiets, Anja haar tas, and the standard form Jans fiets is not used in spoken language. Although discouraged in written Dutch, the construction has found its way into literature as early as the mid-19th century poetry of Piet Paaltjens and in proverbs such as De een z'n dood is de ander z'n brood (lit. "One man's death is another man's bread", i.e. "One man's breath, another's death"/"One person's loss is another person's gain").

• In Afrikaans the construction die man se kinders ("the man's children") is standard. The possessive element se appears to derive from sy "his", but contrary to Dutch it is used with all genders and numbers: e.g. die vrouens se kinders "the women's children".

• Norwegian, especially colloquial such, uses reflexive possessive pronouns extensively. These are declined according to gender and number of the object (rather than that of the possessor), e.g. "Ola sin hund" ("Ola his dog"); "Per si(n) klokke" ("Per his clock"); "Hilde sitt hus" ("Hilde her house"); "Tina sine bøker" ("Tina her books"). In nynorsk one may also use "hans" and "hennar", e.g. "Klokka hans Per" ("The clock his Per"); "Huset hennar Hilde" ("The house her Hilde").