German Reciprocal Fragment

@cite{nordlinger-2023}

German has two reciprocal strategies:

1. "sich" — reflexive pronoun, also used for reciprocal (bivalent). Occupies the object position; both "sich" uses preserve transitivity.

2. "einander" — dedicated reciprocal pronoun (bivalent). A single-word pronoun (not a bipartite NP like English "each other" or Icelandic "hvor...annad"). Unambiguously reciprocal, used to disambiguate from reflexive reading.

WALS Ch 106 classifies German as "mixed" because "sich" is shared between reflexive and reciprocal uses.

def Fragments.German.Reciprocals.sich : Core.Pronouns.PronounEntry

sich — reflexive/reciprocal pronoun (3rd person).

Equations

• Fragments.German.Reciprocals.sich = { form := "sich", person := some UD.Person.third }

def Fragments.German.Reciprocals.einander : Core.Pronouns.PronounEntry

einander — dedicated reciprocal pronoun.

Equations

• Fragments.German.Reciprocals.einander = { form := "einander", person := some UD.Person.third, number := some Number.pl }

theorem Fragments.German.Reciprocals.einander_distinct_from_sich : einander.form ≠ sich.form

The dedicated reciprocal form is distinct from the reflexive.