lávelse

Lávelse is a linguistic term that appears in discussions of Portuguese verb forms as a nonstandard or historical variant of the reflexive verb lavar-se. In modern standard Portuguese, the imperative forms most commonly used for lavar-se are lave-se (formal you) and lava-te or lave-te (informal you), with additional forms for plural subjects. Lávelse is not part of contemporary normative usage in major dictionaries, but it is sometimes cited in grammars or orthography studies as an example of variation in stress marks or in archaic spellings.

Historically, some older Portuguese orthographies experimented with diacritics to indicate stress or to reflect particular pronunciation patterns. Forms like lávelse may be encountered in philological work or in transcriptions of medieval or early modern texts. Because such forms do not align with current normative spelling, they are typically discussed as historical curiosities or as illustrations of orthographic evolution rather than as active, accepted forms in everyday language.

Phonologically, a form like lávelse would be expected to be pronounced with a stressed first syllable, roughly matching an older or regional pronunciation pattern, though exact realization can vary by period and dialect. In contemporary practice, learners and writers are advised to use lave-se or lava-te as the appropriate imperatives for the reflexive lavar-se.

See also: lavar-se, lave-se, lava-te, imperatives in Portuguese, orthographic variation.