Thread:Silver-Haired Seireitou/@comment-25579547-20150211142958/@comment-1493741-20150211145705

Shinigami stabs Human > Human absorbs the Shinigami's power > Human gains Zanpakutou.

That was the foundation of Rukia and Ichigo's relationship. I don't think the canon fucked too much with the concept, but I haven't bothered to check, so I might be wrong here. Either way, a Shinigami should be able to impart their powers on to a Human, provided that Human is spiritually strong already and there is a risk of it killing them.