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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 18, No. 3, pp.282-305
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 30 Sep 2018
Received 05 Jul 2018 Revised 16 Sep 2018 Accepted 18 Sep 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.18.3.201809.282

On the Status of the Reflexive Found with English Inherently Reflexive Verbs: A Response to Kallulli (2013)

Isaac Gould
Professor, Ewha Womans University 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760 gould@ewha.ac.kr

Correspondence to: Isaac Gould Professor, Ewha Womans University 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760 gould@ewha.ac.kr

Abstract

Gould, I. 2018. On the status of the reflexive found with English inherently reflexive verbs: A response to Kallulli (2013). Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics 18-3, 282-305. This paper challenges the recent claim in Kallulli (2013) that the reflexive morphology found with inherently reflexive verbs (IRVs) in English (as in e.g. to behave oneself or to conduct oneself) is verbal morphology akin to the deponent verbal morphology found in languages such as Albanian and Greek. I discuss how the types of evidence raised by Kallulli for this claim are either inconclusive or in fact point toward an alternative claim when a more detailed look at IRV data in English is undertaken. As an alternative, I advance a view that builds on Schäfer (2012), as well as Büring (2005), and that is supported by the balance of evidence discussed here. I propose that the reflexives are fully-fledged pronominal arguments of the IRVs. Thus, I claim that the reflexives are selected for by the IRVs, and I identify a thematic role that these reflexives receive from the IRVs.

Keywords:

deponent verbs, inherently reflexive verbs, passives, unaccusative verbs

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Suyeon Yun along with several reviewers for their help with various aspects of this paper. This work was supported by the CORE Program funded by the Korean government (MOE)

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