Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 12, 2026

Postessive case

In linguistics, the postessive case is a noun case that indicates movement behind something.

Last revised
Jun 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
136 w
Citations
2
Source

In linguistics, the postessive case (abbreviated poste) is a noun case that indicates movement behind something.

This case is found in Northeast Caucasian languages like Lezgian and Agul. In Lezgian the suffix -хъ (-qh), when added to the ergative-case noun, marks the possessive case. This case is now rarely used for its original meaning "behind" and is often used to mean "with"1 or "in exchange for".2

References

References

  1. Martin Haspelmath (27 September 2011). A Grammar of Lezgian. Walter de Gruyter. p. 94. ISBN 978-3-11-088421-0. the Postessive is the case of arguments of certain verbs and of the postposition galaz 'with'
  2. Martin Haspelmath (27 September 2011). A Grammar of Lezgian. Walter de Gruyter. p. 93. ISBN 978-3-11-088421-0. A very specific meaning of the Postessive is 'in exchange for'.
External links
  • The dictionary definition of postessive at Wiktionary