Alienable possession

A. One has one’s ear in a different way than one has a table, and has one’s relative in a different way than one has a car. In English, we use the same word have for both conceptions, but just as often, languages mark this subtle difference.

B. In Mandinka in West Africa, for example, to say “your father,” one says i faamaa, but to say “your well,” one says i la koloŋo. The la particle signals that something is possessed in the “table” way instead of the “ear” way. Linguists differentiate these concepts as alienable possession (the table kind) and inalienable possession (the ear kind).

Mandinka

i faamaa “your father”

i la koloŋo “your well”