The possessor and the pronoun

Wilson’s personal-pronoun tables include genitive forms alongside absolute, agent and dative forms. They distinguish first, second and third persons, with separate singular and plural rows. The third-person columns also distinguish a nearer from a more distant referent. A second table records Salt Range forms, including differences from the district table. Possessive expression is therefore presented as part of a larger pronominal system. The English ideas of my, your and their do not by themselves describe every distinction visible in those rows. A reader needs to identify the person, number and stated variety before choosing which printed form is being discussed.[2]

Which word controls the ending?

In his genitive account, Wilson describes a postposition attached to an oblique noun. The resulting expression behaves like an adjective and agrees with the following noun in gender, number and case. His horse and mare examples keep the possessor constant while changing the following noun and its grammatical form. That arrangement makes the direction of agreement especially useful to notice: the ending is not simply a description of the owner. The Lodiana grammar makes the same distinction explicitly, explaining that its agreement table concerns the governing word rather than the noun to which the genitive particle is attached.[1][2]

Finding the reference of one’s own

The Lodiana grammar treats reflective possession through its discussion of self and own. It says that the reflective normally refers back to a preceding nominative or instrumental, then records contexts involving a preceding dative or another object relation. Personal pronouns can be added to make a different reference explicit, or to emphasise a connection. The important reading question is therefore whose possession is meant within that particular sentence. A reflexive form does not supply an owner independently of context. This part of the account adds reference to the agreement problem: first identify the intended possessor, then examine the form required by the surrounding construction.[1]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Lodiana American Presbyterian Mission Press; J. Newton attribution in the archive catalogue; Rev. J. Porter, press superintendent. A Grammar of the Panjabi Language; with Appendices ↗Historical descriptive and teaching grammar · Source date: 1851 · Locator: Printed pp.7–8/PDF20–21, §§22–23 genitive agreement; printed pp.20–21/PDF33–34, §§58–59 reflective forms and their reference. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual selected 1851 original pages and English explanation were read. Selected script forms were checked visually before inclusion; unreliable OCR was not used as a transcription. The original title is anonymous; the catalogue attribution is qualified. Historical rules remain attributed and region/date bounded.Return to Which word controls the ending?, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Finding the reference of one’s own, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. J. Wilson; acknowledged assistance of Munshi Mahbub Alam; Punjab Government Press. Grammar and Dictionary of Western Panjabi, as Spoken in the Shahpur District, with Proverbs, Sayings and Verses ↗Historical district grammar and dictionary · Source date: 1899 imprint; preface September 1898 · Locator: Printed p.10/PDF28, genitive formation/agreement; printed pp.19–20/PDF37–38, personal genitives and Salt Range variants; printed p.26/PDF44, own/self forms. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual selected original 1899 pages were read, including stated regional variants and table context. English descriptions are the historical author’s analysis. No current usage survey, audio or performance was consulted; any written illustrative line has only the narrow locator scope stated above.Return to The possessor and the pronoun, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Which word controls the ending?, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0085 · English edition · human review not performed