In this paper, we discuss possessors that are in some sense “intermediate” with respect to the internal vs. external distinction: they form a syntactic constituent with the possessed noun but nevertheless show some clause-level behavior, as if they were in a DP-external position. The present paper argues, building on May (1985), Chomsky (1986), Kayne (1994), that other languages with such “intermediate” possessors provide syntactic evidence for a representation like (2), in which the possessor is adjoined to the possessive noun phrase, rather than fully contained in it.
Some Tundra Nenets possessors in the adjoined position show hybrid behavior: on the one hand, they are not promoted to an argument function and not interpreted as affected or assigned DP-external case, but on the other, they behave like arguments with respect to syntactic locality, for example being able to bind into other DPs and participate in switch-reference.