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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250517T155000Z
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250517T152000Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250907T124746Z
UID:2e087db6-3840-4a7a-81f5-4a78d8d14652@talks.stuts.de
DESCRIPTION:Reflexives are usually marked in one of two ways: through ind
 ependent pronouns (e.g. myself/yourself/himself in English) or through v
 erbal morphology (e.g. í:- in Creek (Martin 2011)). While much typologic
 al research has focused on independent reflexives or on reflexive system
 s as a whole (e.g. Geniusiene 1987)\, verbal reflexives remain understud
 ied. This presentation reports on an exploratory cross-linguistic study 
 of the morphological\, semantic\, and syntactic properties of verbal ref
 lexives. Drawing on descriptive grammars and other written sources\, I a
 nalyze data from 17 languages. I focus on the question what verbal refle
 xives can reveal about the theoretical modeling of reflexives - especial
 ly regarding the widespread assumption that reflexives reduce a verb’s n
 umber of arguments (Faltz 1977\, Dik 1983\, Heaton 2018). \n\nBased on p
 atterns of positional distribution\, semantic functions\, and interactio
 ns with ergative alignment\, I show that verbal reflexives exhibit consi
 derable variation. While some support a valency-reducing analysis\, othe
 rs are more neutral\, and one even presents clear counter-evidence. Thes
 e findings challenge the idea that reflexives uniformly function as vale
 ncy-reducing devices\, highlighting the need for a more nuanced account.
 \n\nThis presentation is based on research conducted for my bachelor’s t
 hesis and aims to contribute to a deeper typological understanding of re
 flexive systems.\n\nReferences:\nDik\, Simon C. 1983. On the status of v
 erbal reflexives. In Liliane Tasmowski & Dominique Willems (eds.)\, Prob
 lems in syntax\, 231–255. New York\, NY: Springer.\nFaltz\, Leonard M. 1
 977. Reflexivization: A study in universal syntax. Berkley\, CA: Univers
 ity of California dissertation.\nGeniusiene\, Emma. 1987. The typology o
 f reflexives. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.\nHeaton\, Raina. 2018. Intransi
 tivizing morphology. Language and Linguistics Compass 12(12). 1–25.\nMar
 tin\, Jack B. 2011. A grammar of Creek (Muskogee). Lincoln\, NE: Univers
 ity of Nebraska Press.
URL:https://talks.stuts.de/en/stuts77/public/events/1360
SUMMARY:Are all reflexives valency-reducing? Insights from verbal reflexi
 ves
ORGANIZER:stuts77
LOCATION:stuts77 - GWZ 2.316
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