Reflexive verb
In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, "I wash myself". More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object). For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself. In a wider sense, the term refers to any verb form whose grammatical object is a reflexive pronoun, regardless of semantics; such verbs are also referred to as pronominal verbs, especially in grammars of the Romance languages. In the Romance languages, the pronominal verbs is a parent category with reflexive verbs as only one of its sub-categories. Other kinds of pronominal verbs are reciprocal (they killed each other), passive (it is told), subjective, idiomatic (the presence of the reflexive pronoun changes the meaning, e.g. abonar to pay, abonarse to subscribe, see idiomatic pronominal verbs in Spanish).
There are languages that have explicit morphology or syntax to transform a verb into a reflexive form. In many languages, reflexive constructions are rendered by transitive verbs followed by a reflexive pronoun, as in English -self (e.g., "She threw herself to the floor.") English employs reflexive derivation idiosyncratically, as in "self-destruct".
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Indo-European languages[edit]
Romance and Slavic languages make extensive use of reflexive verbs and reflexive forms.
In the Romance languages, there are non-emphatic clitic reflexive pronouns and emphatic ones. In Spanish, for example, the particle se encliticizes to the verb's infinitive, gerund, and imperative (lavarse "to wash oneself"), while in Romanian, the particle procliticizes to the verb (a se spăla "to wash oneself"). Full reflexive pronouns or pronominal phrases are added for emphasis or disambiguation: Me cuido a mí mismo "I take care of myself" (mismo combines with the prepositional form of the pronoun mí to form an intensive reflexive pronoun).
The enclitic reflexive pronoun sa/se/si/się is used in Western and South Slavic languages, while Eastern Slavic languages use the suffix -sja (-ся). There is also the non-clitic emphatic pronoun sebja/себя, used to emphasize the reflexive nature of the act; it is applicable only to "true" reflexive verbs, where the agent performs a (transitive) action on itself.
The Slavic languages use the same reflexive pronoun for all persons and numbers, while the Romance and North Germanic ones have a special third person pronoun that cliticizes and the other Germanic ones do as well without cliticizing. This is illustrated in the following table for the word "to recall" (e.g., Je me souviens means "I recall", Tu te souviens means "You recall", and so on).
| French | Danish | Serbo-Croatian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person | Je me souviens | Nous nous souvenons | Jeg lægger mig | Vi lægger os | Ja se sjećam | Mi se sjećamo |
| 2nd person | Tu te souviens | Vous vous souvenez | Du lægger dig | I lægger jer | Ti se sjećaš | Vi se sjećate |
| 3rd person | Il se souvient | Ils se souviennent | Han lægger sig | De lægger sig | On se sjeća | Oni se sjećaju |
In all of these language groups, reflexive forms often present an obstacle for foreign learners[1][2] (notably native speakers of English, where the feature is practically absent) due to the variety of uses. Even in languages which contain the feature, it is not always applicable to the same verbs and uses (although a common subset can be generally extracted, as outlined below). For example, the Spanish reflexive construct "se hundió el barco" ("the boat sank") has no reflexive equivalent in some Slavic languages (which use an intransitive equivalent of sink), though for example Czech and Slovak do use a reflexive verb: "loď se potopila"/"loď sa potopila". Reflexive verbs can have a variety of uses and meanings, which often escape consistent classification. Some language-common identified uses are outlined below.[3] For example, Davies et al.[1] identify 12 uses for Spanish reflexive constructions, while Vinogradov[4] divides Russian reflexive verbs into as many as 16 groups.
Martin Haspelmath also has a useful distinction between the reflexive types mentioned below, which he calls introverted reflexives, and so called extroverted reflexives, which are used for verbs that are usually not reflexive, like hate oneself, love oneself, hear oneself, and kill oneself. Some Indo-European languages have a different reflexive morpheme for extroverted reflexives. For example:
- See how the Russian ненавидеть себя (nenavidet' sebja) "to hate oneself", which uses a reflexive pronoun, compares to мыться (myt'-sja) "to wash (oneself)", which uses a reflexive suffix (Russian can also say мыть себя (myt' sebja), with a reflexive pronoun, but only when the pronoun needs to be stressed for emphasis or contrast).
- Or Dutch "zij haat zichzelf" "she hates herself", versus "zij wast zich" "she washes (herself)".
- The distinction exists similarly in English, where introverted reflexive verbs usually have no reflexive pronoun, unlike extroverted.[5]
- In ancient Greek, the introverted reflexive was expressed using the middle voice rather than a pronoun. Similarly, in modern Greek, it is expressed using the middle usage of the passive voice. On the other hand, the extroverted reflexive was a true reflexive in ancient Greek and modern Greek.
- Similarly Claire Moyse-Faurie distinguishes between middle and reflexive in Oceanic languages in her on-line articles about reflexives in Oceanic languages[citation needed].
Properly reflexive[edit]
The "true" (literal) reflexive denotes that the agent is simultaneously the patient. The verb is typically transitive and can be used in non-reflexive meaning as well.
| Language | Examples | Compare |
|---|---|---|
| French | Pierre se lave | Pierre lave le chat |
| Spanish | Pedro se lava. | Pedro lava el gato. |
| Italian | Pietro si lava. | Pietro lava il gatto. |
| Catalan | En Pere es renta. | En Pere renta el gat. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Petar se kupa. | Petar kupa mačku. |
| Polish | Piotr się kąpie. | Piotr kąpie kota. |
| Russian | Пётр моется. Pyotr moyetsya. |
Пётр моет котa. Pyotr moyet kota. |
| German | Peter wäscht sich. | Peter wäscht die Katze. |
| Danish | Peter vasker sig. | Peter vasker katten. |
| Lithuanian | Petras prausiasi. | Petras prausia katę. |
| Petras prausia save. | ||
| English | Peter washes himself. | Peter washes the cat. |
Reciprocal[edit]
"Reciprocal" reflexive denotes that the agents perform the mutual actions among themselves, as in English constructions using "each other". In most cases, the transitive verbs are also used.
| Language | Examples | Compare |
|---|---|---|
| French | Marie et Pierre s'embrassent | Marie embrasse Pierre |
| Spanish | María y Pedro se besan. | María besa a Pedro. |
| Italian | Maria e Pietro si baciano. | Maria bacia Pietro. |
| Catalan | La Maria i en Pere es fan un petó. | La Maria fa un petó a en Pere. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Marija i Petar se ljube. | Marija ljubi Petra. |
| Polish | Maria i Piotr się całują. | Maria całuje Piotra. |
| Russian | Мария и Пётр целуются. Mariya i Pyotr tseluyutsya. |
Мария целуeт Петрa. Mariya tseluyet Petra. |
| Danish | Maria og Peter kysser hinanden. | Maria kysser Peter. |
| Lithuanian | Marija ir Petras bučiuojasi. | Marija bučiuoja Petrą. |
| English | Мary and Peter kiss [each other]. | Mary kisses Peter. |
In modern Scandinavian languages, the passive (or more properly mediopassive) voice is used for medial, especially reciprocal, constructions. Some examples from Danish are
- Maria og Peter skændes; "Mary and Peter are bickering", lit. "Mary and Peter are scolded by each other."
- Maria og Peter blev forlovet; "Mary and Peter got engaged [to each other]."
(The hypothetical form **kysses (kiss each other) is not often—if ever—seen in Danish; however, it will likely be understood by most native speakers, indicating that the mediopassive voice is still at the very least potentially productive in Danish. An expression like "de kysses uafladeligt" (they kiss each other all the time) could very well be used for humorous purposes.)
Autocausative[edit]
"Autocausative" reflexive denotes that the (usually animate) "referent represented by the subject combines the activity of actor and undergoes a change of state as a patient":[6]
| Language | Examples |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Pedro se ofendió. |
| Italian | Pietro si offese. |
| Catalan | En Pere es va ofendre. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Petar se uvrijedio. |
| Polish | Piotr się obraził. |
| Russian | Пётр обиделся. Pyotr obidelsya. |
| German | Peter ärgerte sich. |
| Lithuanian | Petras įsižeidė. |
| English | Peter became/was offended. |
Anticausative[edit]
"Anticausative" reflexive denotes that the (usually inanimate) subject of the verb undergoes an action or change of state whose agent is unclear or nonexistent.[6]
| Language | Examples |
|---|---|
| Spanish | La puerta se abrió. |
| Italian | La porta si aprì. |
| Catalan | La porta es va obrir. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Vrata su se otvorila. |
| Polish | Drzwi się otworzyły. |
| Russian | Дверь открылась. Dver' otkrylas'. |
| German | Die Tür öffnete sich. |
| Lithuanian | Durys atsidarė. |
| English | The door opened. |
Intransitive or Impersonal[edit]
"Intransitive" forma (also known as "impersonal reflexive" or "mediopassive") take the intransitive verbs with omitted agent. In Slavic languages, practically "the only condition is that they can be construed as having a human agent. The applied human agent can be generic, or loosely specified collective or individual."[7] The grammatical subject is either omitted (in pro-drop languages) or dummy pronoun (otherwise). Thus, those verbs are defective, as they have only the 3rd person singular (masculine or neutrum, depending on language) form.
| Language | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Aquí se trabaja bien. | Se dice que... |
| Italian | Qui si lavora bene. | Si dice che... |
| Catalan | Aquí es treballa bé. | Hom/Es diu que... |
| Serbo-Croatian | Tu se radi dobro. | Smatra se da... |
| Polish | Tu pracuje się dobrze. | Uważa się, że... |
| Russian | Здесь хорошо работается. Zdes' khorosho rabotayetsya. |
Думается, что... Dumayetsya, chto... |
| Lithuanian | Čia gerai darbuojasi. | Sakosi... |
| English | [People] work well here. | It is considered that... |
In many cases, there is a semantic overlap between impersonal/anticausative/autocausative constructs and the passive voice (also present in all Romance and Slavic languages).[7] On one hand, impersonal reflexive constructs have a wider scope of application, as they are not limited to transitive verbs like the canonical passive voice. On the other hand, those constructs can have slight semantic difference or markedness.
Inherent[edit]
"Inherent" or "pronominal" (inherently or essentially) reflexive verbs lack the corresponding non-reflexive from which they can be synchronically derived.[6] In other words, se is an inherent part of an unergative reflexive or reciprocal verb with no meaning of its own, and an obligatory part of the verb's lexical entry":[8]
| Language | Examples | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Pedro se arrepintió. | Pedro se ríe[N 1] | María y Pedro se separaron.[N 1] | Pedro se queja. |
| Italian | Pietro si pentì. | [N 2] | Maria e Pietro si separarono.[N 1] | Pietro si lamenta.[N 3] |
| Catalan | En Pere es va penedir. | [N 2] | La Maria i en Pere es van separar.[N 1] | En Pere es lamenta. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Petar se pokajao. | Petar se smije. | Marija i Petar su se rastali. | Petar se žali.[N 3] |
| Polish | Piotr się pokajał. | Piotr się śmieje. | Maria i Piotr się rozstali. | Piotr żali się.[N 3] |
| Russian | Пётр раскаялся. Pyotr raskayalsya. |
Пётр cмеётся. Pyotr smeyotsya. |
Мария и Пётр расстались. Mariya i Pyotr rasstalis'. |
Пётр жалуeтся.[N 3] Pyotr zhaluyetsya. |
| Lithuanian | Petras atsiprašė. | Petras juokiasi. | Marija ir Petras išsiskyrė.[N 1] | Petras skundžiasi.[N 1] |
| English | Peter repented. | Peter laughs. | Mary and Peter parted. | Peter complains. |
- ^ a b c d e f The verb is reflexive, but not inherently. Both have non-reflexive forms: the transitive separar and the intransitive reír. In Lithuanian išsiskirti and skųstis have non-reflexive forms: transitive išskirti and transitive skųsti.
- ^ a b The corresponding verb is not reflexive.
- ^ a b c d Only the Spanish quejarse exists only in reflexive form (cf. the Latin deponent verb queror, I complain); however, in other languages, the corresponding non-reflexive verb has a different meaning, like "lament" or "mourn".
Hebrew[edit]
In Hebrew reflexive verbs are in binyan הִתְפַּעֵל. A clause whose predicate is a reflexive verb may never have an object but may have other modifiers. e.g.
- האיש התפטר מעבודתו - the man resigned from his job
- האיש התמכר לסמים - the man got addicted to drugs
- האיש התקלח בבוקר - the man 'showered himself', i.e., took/had a shower in the morning
- האישה הסתפרה אצל אבי - the woman took a haircut/had her hair done at Avi's
Inuktitut[edit]
A reflexive verb is a verb which must have both an object and a subject, but where, in some context, both the object and the subject are identical. In Inuktitut, this situation is expressed by using a specific verb but by affixing a non-specific ending to it.
| Specific: | ᓇᓄᖅ ᖁᑭᖅᑕᕋ Nanuq qukiqtara |
I just shot the polar bear |
| Non-specific: | ᓇᓄᕐᒥᒃ ᖁᑭᖅᓯᔪᖓ Nanurmik qukiqsijunga |
I just shot a polar bear |
| Reflexive: | ᖁᑭᖅᑐᖓ Qukiqtunga |
I just shot myself |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Mark Davies; James Jones; Nicole Tracy. "Syntactic features, register variation, and the language learner: the case of se in Spanish". Ugr.es. Archived from the original on 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ "Reflexive Verbs: An Introduction". Spanish.about.com. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ María Luisa Rivero & Milena M. Sheppard. "On Impersonal se / się in Slavic" (PDF). Current Issues in Formal Slavic Linguistics. G. Zybatow, et al., Eds. 137-147. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-05.
- ^ V. V. Vinogradov (1947). Russkiy Yazik: Grammatičeskoe učenie o slove. Moscow.
- ^ MARTIN HASPELMATH. "A frequentist explanation of some universals of reflexive marking" (PDF). Staff.eva.mpg.de. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ a b c Parry, M. (1998). "The reinterpretation of the reflexive in Piedmontese: 'impersonal'SE constructions". Transactions of the Philological Society. 96 (1): 63–116. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.00024.
- ^ a b Milja Djurkovic. "Passive and Impersonal in English and Serbian" (PDF). Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics University of Cambridge. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-08.
- ^ Grahek, Sabina (2002). "Alternating unaccusative verbs in Slovene" (PDF). Leeds Working Papers in Linguistics. 9: 57–72.
External links[edit]
- R. M. W. Dixon & A. Y. Aikhenvald (eds). "Changing valency: Case studies in transitivity" (PDF). Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
