> a clitic [] is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but depends phonologically on another word or phrase.
The English 'genitive' particle 's is a clitic[1] because it takes its pronunciation from the syllable it follows. Not because it has grammatical functions at a phrase level. Clitic 'm can only ever follow the pronoun I, but that does nothing to stop it from being clitic.
[1] Actually, CGEL prefers to call 's a "phrasal case marker", but I find that absurd.
Except that this is a claim you just made up, which is not reflected in any usage of the term.
SIL ( https://glossary.sil.org/term/clitic-grammar ):
> A clitic is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but shows evidence of being phonologically bound to another word.
Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitic ):
> a clitic [] is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but depends phonologically on another word or phrase.
The English 'genitive' particle 's is a clitic[1] because it takes its pronunciation from the syllable it follows. Not because it has grammatical functions at a phrase level. Clitic 'm can only ever follow the pronoun I, but that does nothing to stop it from being clitic.
[1] Actually, CGEL prefers to call 's a "phrasal case marker", but I find that absurd.