The English genitive and double case

Abstract

AbstractDouble case is a widespread phenomenon in which a feature, typically a case feature which originates on a noun phrase A, is realised externally to a feature which originates on a noun phrase B which is a subconstituent of A. Although not included in the above collection, examples of the English phrasal genitive such as [the girl who invited [me’s]] best friend and [a friend of [mine’s]] mother, in which the genitive case marker is realised externally to a pronoun in the accusative or genitive case, fit this paradigm exactly. In this paper, I argue therefore that any analysis of the English genitive must be consistent with the constraints imposed by the general typology of double case. Having outlined an edge‐feature analysis which satisfies these constraints, I further show that, in distinction to postlexical clitic analyses, it provides an account of Kruisinga’s observation that the English phrasal genitive, as in *the queens of England’s, is incompatible with (regular) plural marking.