to possess

[Edguoglitigin]

What is the equivalent of "to possess" in your language?

And please tell me if you know their basic and maybe ancient meaning.

 

[DenisBiH]

And please tell me if you know their basic and maybe ancient meaning.

Bosnian / BCS: posjedovati.

Etymologically po + sjediti

The first part, po, has various meanings when used independently such as "over; across; at; for; after; by; according to". It derives from PIE *h2(e)po "off, away".

The second part, sjediti, means "to sit", from PIE *sed-

To me posjedovati seems like one of those 19th century calques, but I may be wrong.

 

[apmoy70]

In Greek:
In the modern language: «Κατέχω» (ka'texo).
Classical Greek verb «κατέχω» (kă'tĕxō). Compound formed by the joining together of the preposition and prefix «κατὰ» (kā'tă), used as an intensive or with a sense of completion of action (from PIE root *km̥ta-, beside, alongside, near) + verb «ἔχω» ('ĕxō)-->to have, hold (from PIE root *segʰ-, to hold).

[x] is a voiceless velar fricative

 

[ancalimon]

As far as I know, there is no Turkish word for "possess". But we use "sahip olmak", which is probably an Arabic loan.

Still, we can always use "var" : ex: iki arabası var: he has two cars.

 

[Orlin]

Bulgarian притежавам, Russian притяжать.

 

[Edguoglitigin]

Bulgarian притежавам, Russian притяжать.

Is the Russian one basic? I mean Russian say "У меня есть машин" (I have a car) but it is a noun clause. Unlike, English one is verb clause. They do not use a verb to state possession a property or something else. Is it correspondent to Bulgarian as well?

 

[Edguoglitigin]

Bosnian / BCS: posjedovati.

Etymologically po + sjediti

The first part, po, has various meanings when used independently such as "over; across; at; for; after; by; according to". It derives from PIE *h2(e)po "off, away".

The second part, sjediti, means "to sit", from PIE *sed-

To me posjedovati seems like one of those 19th century calques, but I may be wrong.

Thanks for the contribution So could you use the verb in a simple sentence? And is it a widespread verb? In translation of "I have a cat", do you use the verb?

 

[jazyk]

In Portuguese: possuir (from Latin possidere, from the stem potis, being able, powerful, plus sidere, to sit) or more commonly ter (to have) (from Latin tenere, to hold).

 

[Orlin]

Is the Russian one basic? I mean Russian say "У меня есть машина" (I have a car) but it is a noun clause. Unlike, English one is verb clause. They do not use a verb to state possession a property or something else. Is it correspondent to Bulgarian as well?

These verbs are rare in both Bulgarian and Russian - they're used only to emphasize possession or in some formal contexts. The impersonal construction you mentioned is the basic in Russian indeed while Bulgarian uses the verb имам (equivalent of the verb "to have" in English and similar verbs in other Indo-European languages).

 

[Maroseika]

Bulgarian притежавам, Russian притяжать.

There is no such a verb in modern Russian - притяжать, but it could exist in the past. In Russian we still have its derivatives and cognates: притяжательный - possessive (only as grammatical term), стяжать - to gain (bookish).
The base is тяга - attraction.

Modern Russian words are обладать, владеть.
Both derivate from Church-Slavonic владеть - to possess, to own.
Russian word was володеть and it is a cognate of:
Old-Prussian walduns (to inherit)
Gothic waldan - to rule
αλωτός - sway
Latin valeo - to be strong.

 

[Maroseika]

Bosnian / BCS: posjedovati.

Etymologically po + sjediti

Looks like a Latin calque?

 

[Edguoglitigin]

In Portuguese: possuir (from Latin possidere, from the stem potis, being able, powerful, plus sidere, to sit) or more commonly ter (to have) (from Latin tenere, to hold).

Thanks

I just newly learned that the same situation is valid in English as well. According to information (in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of English) to posses comes from *pots-sidere. Similiarly, pots / potis means "being able, master".

 

[DenisBiH]

Thanks for the contribution So could you use the verb in a simple sentence? And is it a widespread verb? In translation of "I have a cat", do you use the verb?

Here's an example from 1949, taken from the Croatian Language Corpus:

Ja mislim, što nije s pravdom stečeno, ne može se ni s pravom posjedovati.

I think, that that which has not been obtained by just means, cannot be possessed by right/law either

It's pretty widespread, but as in English (as far as I know) it is used for a specific meaning - "to possess". We have a separate verb for "to have" - imati, so "I have a cat" would be Imam mačku. I don't think that "I possess a cat" sounds that good in English either. There are other words which in some contexts can replace it, such as vladati "to rule, to govern", držati "to hold" etc.

Looks like a Latin calque?

It could be, but it could also be based on German besitzen.

 

[Orlin]

There is no such a verb in modern Russian - притяжать, but it could exist in the past. In Russian we still have its derivatives and cognates: притяжательный - possessive (only as grammatical term), стяжать - to gain (bookish).
The base is тяга - attraction.

Modern Russian words are обладать, владеть.
Both derivate from Church-Slavonic владеть - to possess, to own.
Russian word was володеть and it is a cognate of:
Old-Prussian walduns (to inherit)
Gothic waldan - to rule
αλωτός - sway
Latin valeo - to be strong.

Here's an example from 1949, taken from the Croatian Language Corpus:

It's pretty widespread, but as in English (as far as I know) it is used for a specific meaning - "to possess". We have a separate verb for "to have" - imati, so "I have a cat" would be Imam mačku. I don't think that "I possess a cat" sounds that good in English either. There are other words which in some contexts can replace it, such as vladati "to rule, to govern", držati "to hold" etc.




It could be, but it could also be based on German besitzen.

Спасибо за уточнения, Maroseika!
Кстати, в болгарском языке тоже есть глаголы владея и държа.

 

[nimak]

Macedonian:

поседувам (poséduvam) = to possess; to own; to have​

имам (ímam) = to have; to possess; to exist; there is​

 

[Włoskipolak 72]

Polish ;

to possess : posiąść , posiadać (verb) [pɔˈɕadaʨ̑], po- siadać (sit) , (lat. possidēre)
synonyms : mieć, władać, dysponować.

Posiadanie: ( possession) , lat. possessio.
posiadacz , właściciel : holder
posiadłość, majątek : property