(inspired by another thread)
In English, possessive adjectives agree with the person who possesses:
a father loves his son/daughter, a mother loves her son/daughter.
In French, it's the opposite. Possessive adjectives agree with the person possessed (or object possessed, because in French, objects have a gender):
un père/une mère aime son fils, un père/une mère aime sa fille.
What about in other languages? What's the most frequent rule among languages? Regarding this rule, are there two groups, like Germanic languages on one side, and Romance languages on the other side? And is there an explanation for the origin of this rule, in one form or the other?
In English, possessive adjectives agree with the person who possesses:
a father loves his son/daughter, a mother loves her son/daughter.
In French, it's the opposite. Possessive adjectives agree with the person possessed (or object possessed, because in French, objects have a gender):
un père/une mère aime son fils, un père/une mère aime sa fille.
What about in other languages? What's the most frequent rule among languages? Regarding this rule, are there two groups, like Germanic languages on one side, and Romance languages on the other side? And is there an explanation for the origin of this rule, in one form or the other?
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