This paper addresses the requirements for the acceptability of the possessive construction in the form of "N de V" in Chinese. The central issue is the four semantic relations that may hold between N the possessor and nominalized V the possessee. Following a Cognitive Grammar characterization of the construction as a reference point construction, it is claimed that, serving as a reference point in establishing mental contact with the target, possessor N must have prominence, which is further defined as a combination of two factors "informativity" and "accessibility".
