Russian possessive question

[jvt5350 at is2.nyu.edu]

I would agree that it is just one more example when we are able to say that
the distinctions are extremely fluid. It seems to me, it is not just the
question of antecedent, stressed or unstressed, which triggers
reflexization. While "attestat upolnomachivaet svoego vladel'tsa" is still
posssible (though less formal than "ego"), what about "kniga nashla svoego
chitatelia"? "Ee" is not possible here.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that in Yokoyama's example
"ona poshla k ee zaveduiushchei" "ee", in fact, is less formal than "svoei"
(just the opposite to the previous example): many natives will use it in
spoken Russian but it doesn't sound right to me.

Julia Trubikhina
New York University