Sydvästsvensk a-genitiv - en levande relikt

In English In modern standard Swedish genitive is marked by -s, which, according to the standard analyses, is a phrasal clitic, viz. mannen på gatans åsikt (man on street-s opinion). In dialects in parts of Småland, Halland, and Västergötland a variant on -a or -e, here called a-genitive, is used, primarily on proper names, viz. Erik-a bil (Erik-gen car) ‘Erik’s car’, a form that should be compared to the genitival forms of the type found in Old Swedish. The study shows that a-genitive is preferred for disyllabic masculine names, but for some speakers it can be used for all types of names. For one group of speakers, a-genitive can be used only on head nouns, not on full noun phrases, which indicates that the genitive marker for these speakers is a true morphological element of the Old Swedish type. For another group of speakers, a-genitive can be used also on full noun phrases, which indicates that -a for these speakers has become a phrasal clitic, i.e. an allomorph to genitival -s.
For possessive/genitival pronouns hans ‘his’ and hennes ‘her’ it is suggested that “a-forms” such as hansa ‘his’ and henna ‘her’, together with a productive use of -a as a linking element, viz. kalv-a+kätte (calf-a+penn) ‘calf’s penn’ make up a macro-paradigm, which helps explaining the fact that a-genitive has been able to continue to exist, despite a paradigmatic pressure from standard Swedish s-genitive.
An analysis of “collectivizing genitive”, viz. Olssons, in the dialects in question Olsson-a-s, meaning ‘Olsson’s, family/house/shop …’ is presented. “Double” marking” (or more) of genitive, such as hans-a-s (his-gen-gen) ’his’ is discussed; the two exponents seem to compete: -s is associated with the standard language and -a, is primarily an exponent of emotional or regional solidarity.