On the dialectal distinctions in the sphere of Old Russian possessive constructions

The paper discusses dialectal distinctions in the sphere of possessive constructions in Early East Slavic area according to the data of Old Russian vernacular texts (especially birchbark letters) and chronicles of different regional localization. Iměti and byti-constructions with u + Genitive or non-prepositional Dative in the role of possessor are examined. It is shown that byti-construction with u + Gen. was the main predicative possessive construction throughout the Old Russian area without distinctions between northern and southern Old Russian dialects. Possessive construction with iměti was specifically literary, originated from South Slavic, but periphrastic combinations with abstract nouns might be Proto-Slavic archaisms
independent of the Church Slavonic tradition; in the Old Novgorod dialect iměti was even less common than in other Old Russian dialects. The archaic possessive dative case could be used in both nominal and predicative constructions throughout the Old Russian area, but such use was regular only with enclitic pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons, and in the southern Old Russian dialects probably also with the 3rd person pronoun. There were no fundamental dialectal differences that contrast different Old Russian areas in the sphere of grammatical expression of possessiveness – the distinctions were mainly due to the greater or lesser retention of archaisms.