reflexif

Reflexif, also known as reflexive in linguistic contexts, refers to a set of forms and constructions that indicate the subject and the entity affected by an action are the same. The term is commonly used in French grammar as verbe pronominal réfléchi (reflexive verbs) and is described in English-language linguistics as reflexive or reflexive constructions. Reflected meaning can arise through reflexive pronouns, reflexive verb forms, or both, depending on the language.

Across languages, reflexivity is typically encoded in one of two ways. Many languages use reflexive pronouns that refer back to the subject, such as English myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. In other languages, reflexivity is marked on the verb with pronominal clitics or affixes, as in French se laver (to wash oneself) or Spanish lavarse (to wash oneself). Some languages rely on dedicated reflexive verbs or periphrastic constructions to convey the same idea. The exact form and distribution of reflexive marking vary widely by language.

Semantically, reflexivity expresses actions or states directed back onto the subject, but it can also participate in broader functions such as intensification (the subject did something to and for itself) or create certain idiomatic meanings. Reflexive forms are distinct from reciprocal expressions like each other, which involve more than one participant. In syntax, reflexive pronouns often need to be locally bound, aligning with principles of binding in grammar.

Overall, reflexif covers a fundamental and cross-linguistically varied way languages encode actions or states that involve the agent acting on itself.