Bulgarian reflexive clitics se and si: Homonymy, polysemy, syntax

Bulgarian clitics se and si are highly multifunctional due to their versatile morphological status and distributional properties. They may act either as pronouns, or as particles participating in word derivation or verbal form production; in addition, the clitic si can also function as a modal / intensifying particle. In most functions se and si have a certain freedom of linear positioning: they are (weakly) separable and disposed to clustering in a chain of clausal clitics. This is a significant contributory factor to the development of ambiguous sentences. The paper reviews all the functions of the Bulgarian clitics se and si and lays out the conditions of their ambiguity in terms of both predicate-argument structure and cluster combinatorics.

Keywords

Bulgarian, clitics, passive voice, reciprocity, reflexive particles, reflexive pronouns, reflexivity, subjective impersonal construction

Received

06.02.2017

Publication date

06.02.2017

Number of characters

819

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GOST	Ivanova E., Petrova G. Bulgarian reflexive clitics se and si: Homonymy, polysemy, syntax // Voprosy Jazykoznanija – 2017. – Issue 1 C. 74-104 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/vopjaz/s207987840000361-6-1-en (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S0373658X0000949-2
MLA	Ivanova, Elena, Petrova, Galina "Bulgarian reflexive clitics se and si: Homonymy, polysemy, syntax." Voprosy Jazykoznanija 1 (2017):74-104. DOI: 10.31857/S0373658X0000949-2
APA	Ivanova E., Petrova G. (2017). Bulgarian reflexive clitics se and si: Homonymy, polysemy, syntax. Voprosy Jazykoznanija (1), pp.74-104 DOI: 10.31857/S0373658X0000949-2


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