Against the unaccusative analysis of reflexives

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the unaccusative analysis of reflexive verbs must be discarded, as reflexives systematically fail syntactic tests of unaccusativity. They are unergative entries, whose subject is an external argument, unlike the subject of unaccusatives. We adopt the view that reflexives are derived from their transitive alternate by a reduction operation that reduces the internal argument provided that it is identified with its external coargument. Further, we argue that reduction has two modes of application: a lexical mode and a syntactic one. This is what makes reflexives show somewhat different characteristics in Hebrew-type languages vs. French type-languages. In our view, then, reflexivization is essentially the same phenomenon cross-linguistically. The distinctions between the two types of reflexives, e.g. in Hebrew and French, follow from the different component of grammar in which reduction applies.