genitive case

Cuneiform inscription Lugal Kiengi Kiuri 𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵 ("King of Sumer and Akkad") on a seal of Sumerian king Shulgi (r. c. 2094 – c. 2047 BCE) with final ke4 𒆤 being the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case) In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated gen) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can also serve purposes indicating other relationships. For example, some verbs may feature arguments in the genitive case; and the genitive case may also have adverbial uses (see adverbial genitive).

The genitive construction includes the genitive case, but is a broader category. Placing a modifying noun in the genitive case is one way of indicating that it is related to a head noun, in a genitive construction. However, there are other ways to indicate a genitive construction. For example, many Afroasiatic languages place the head noun (rather than the modifying noun) in the construct state.