reversive

Reversive is a term used in linguistics to describe a grammatical or lexical mechanism that signals the reversal or undoing of a previous action or state described by a verb. It foregrounds the idea of taking something back to a prior condition, rather than continuing or completing the original event.

Morphology and syntax vary by language. In some languages reversive meaning is encoded by dedicated affixes or by a special reversive stem. In others it appears as a periphrastic construction, using a separate verb meaning “to undo” or “to reverse” in combination with the main verb. Some languages maintain a lexical repertoire of reversive verbs rather than a fixed morphological marker, while others use context and aspect to convey a reversal interpretation without an explicit reversive form.

Semantics and scope depend on the language and the verb class. Reversive constructions typically concern the reversal of actions that produce a measurable change of state, and they may interact with aspect, tense, and aspectual boundaries. The reversive often implies partial or complete restoration of a prior state, but this restoration is not guaranteed and can be constrained by the event structure and discourse context.

Cross-linguistic distribution is varied. Reversive expressions are documented in some language families through dedicated morphology, while in many languages the meaning is expressed by semantically related verbs such as “undo,” “reverse,” or “return to the previous state.” As a result, reversive is discussed as a functional category rather than a single uniform grammatical device.