Syntax

Syntactic actants

Actant 1: whose tongue it is
(a) Genitive
(b) Possessive
ЯзІк больнћго бІл бљлый. The patient's tongue was white.
Нџ-ка, мђльчик, покажќ мнљ свћй язІк! Come on, little boy, show me your tongue!
NB When the word язІк functions as a subject and does not have a descriptive modifier, the construction язІк у + Genitive is often preferred to (a) and (b), above:
ЯзІк у больнћго бІл бљлый. The patient's tongue was white.