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The Genitive: Getting possessive!

In the previous posts we've looked at ways attributes are used to modify nouns. In similar fashion in Pali, the genitive (possessive) case is also used to qualify nouns to indicate that someone has something.
Strangely, Pāli does not have a verb meaning ‘to have’. Instead, it uses the genitive case to denote 'belonging to' or 'being part of'.

First let's remind ourselves of the genitive declensions.
SINGULAR   PLURAL
stem: Masc. & Neut. Feminine   Masc. & Neut. & Fem.
a, ā -assa -āya   -ānaṃ
i, ī -issa
-ino		 -iyā   -īnaṃ
u, ū -ussa
-uno		 -uyā   -ūnaṃ

The genitive case operates much like an apostrophe (’s) or 'of' in English. For instance:
bhikkhuno patto
gen nom
m m
sgl sgl
a monk'sbowl
the bowl of a monk
sabbe brāhmaṇassa puttā
nom gen nom
m m m
pl sgl pl
allthe brahmin'ssons
all the sons of the brahmin

suvaṇṇassa rāsi
gen nom
m m
sgl sgl
a heap of gold
vassānaṃ tatiye māse
gen loc loc
m m m
pl sgl sgl
in the third month of the rains
Like an adjective, the genitive noun is generally placed before the qualified noun (however in verse, it may follow). It's important to note that it's the possessor that takes the genitive case ending. But unlike an adjective, the genitive noun takes the gender & number of its referent.

I think it's more intuitive to use the 'of' construction - the bowl of a monk - as this helps when understanding which noun is being qualified. For instance, notice sabbe 'all' in the example above agrees with puttā 'sons', as it is 'all the sons of...' not 'all brahmin's...'.

How Pali expresses 'having'

Pāli does not have a verb meaning ‘to have’. The closest may be dhāreti which means ‘to bear’ or ‘to hold’ or ‘to wear.’ This can be used as ‘to have’ in some contexts. Another is gaṇhāti meaning ‘to take’ or ‘to seize’ or ‘to hold.’

But it's more common, to express 'having' by saying:
something of someone exists or
something is someone’s
The verb atthi is normally used in this context, being closer to verb ‘to have’ than hoti and bhavati which are closer to ‘to be / is’ though these verbs are also occasionally used.
brāhmaṇassa ajā santi
gen nom pres, act
m m  
sgl pl pl
    3rd pers.
of the brahmin goats there are
there are goats of the brahmin
The brahmin has goats
Note, the subject of the verb santi (pl. of atthi) is ajā 'the goats' - and not the brahmin. Therefore, the verb is plural to agree with goats rather than singular. (note: atthi can also be used in a plural sense)

As this construction can be a bit counter-intuitive, here are some more examples:
kāmo me n’atthi
nom gen pres, act
m m  
sgl sgl sgl
  pn-1st 3rd pers.
dersire mine there is (not)
desire is not mine
I have no desire
imassa jayo bhavissati
gen nom fut, act
m m  
sgl sgl sgl
pm-3rd   3rd pers.
of him victory will be
victory will be his
he will have Victory
Note, we'll look at Pronouns in the next post.
tassa etad ahosi
gen acc aor, act
m n  
sgl sgl sgl
pn-3rd pn-dem 3rd pers.
of him this was
he had this
tassa evaṃ ahosi
gen ind. aor, act
m    
sgl   sgl
pn-3rd   3rd pers.
of him thus was
he had thus
These two are idioms meaning 'He had this (thought)' 'He had thought thus'...

Partitive Genitive

Finally, another use of the genitive is in the expression 'Of these'… or “Among these'…
brāhmaṇānaṃ so paṇḍito
gen nom nom
m m m
pl sgl sgl
  pn-3rd  
of brahmins he wise
(among) brahmins, he (is) wise
manussānaṃ khattiyo sūratamo
gen nom nom
m m m
pl sgl sgl
of humans warrior bravest
(among) humans, the warrior (is) the bravest 
These are both nominal sentences with omitted copula verbs. Also notice the superlative ending that we covered in the last post.


Ok well, that was a brief look at possession and the genitive case in Pali. in the next post we begin to look at Pronouns in Pali.
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