Genitives from Old to Middle English

This paper discusses the evolution of Ngen+N compounds (e.g. nan regnes dropa \u2018no rain\u2019s drop\u2019) into N+N compounds (i.e. the equivalent of \u2018no rain drop\u2019) between the Old and the Middle English period. The contribution first describes various types of pre-nominal genitive constructions found in Old English, then illustrates the extension of genitive \u2013es to all declensions and plurals in pre-nominal genitive constructions \u2013 where it was re-analysed as clitic or phrasal suffix-- and finally explains how the loss of genitive marking confined to Ngen+N compounds was prompted by the re-organization of the inflectional morphology, whereby, among other things, genitive \u2013es was unselectively attached to all nominal roots