Alternation ‘external possessor’ (Uncoded)

It is defined as “constructions in which a semantic possessor-possessum relation is expressed by coding the possessor […] as a core grammatical relation of the verb and in a constituent separate from that which contains the possessum.” Payne & Barshi (1999: 3). In Old English, the genitive of possession could be replaced either by a possessor in the dative or in the accusative, often followed by a PP indicating a body part: (e.g. þa het Abiathar beaten his muð þearle swyðe “Then Abiathar commaned to beat his mouth very much” vs beoton hine on þæt heafod “beated him on the head”).