A systematic evaluation of syntactic behavior of nouns that take as their possessor the topic of the possessive topic constructions in Mandarin Chinese calls for an understanding of the syntactic and semantic nature of relational nouns (RNs) and non-RNs. This evaluation leads to four empirical generalizations that divide NP possessees into four subtypes, some important differences between which are understudied in the literature. These generalizations are then explained with differences in the lexical syntactic and semantic properties of the four NP subtypes, namely, non-RNs, kinship type nouns, body-part type nouns, and whole-part nouns: whether the nouns bear a local or long-distance syntactic reflexive argument, or a pronominal argument, or no argument at all, is the determining factor of their distinctive syntactic behavior in the possessive topic construction. This study sheds light on long-standing problems concerning the nature of empty categories in connection with the topic in possessive topic constructions. Critical aspects of the nouns’ syntactic behavior are arguably orthogonal to a movement or base-generation approach to topicalization in Mandarin Chinese. Instead, this article proposes that the semantic or syntactic arguments of the nominal possessees relate to the topic via some general mechanisms other than movement or base-generation: reflexive and pronominal reference resolution. This study thus offers us a novel viewpoint on the syntax and semantics of nouns as well as their typology in the context of possession and inalienability.