reflexivo

Forms

reflexivo (feminine reflexiva, masculine plural reflexivos, feminine plural reflexivas)^[1]

Etymology

Houaiss takes it as borrowed from French réflexif (“relating to reflection”), a French word of 1692, itself borrowed from New Latin reflexivus (“relating to the reflection of light”).^[2] The Latin adjective is formed from reflexus with the suffix -īvus,^[1] and that participle is the supine of reflectō (“to bend back, to turn back”).^[2][3] The French word is formed from réflexe (“reflex”) with -if.^[1]

Other dictionaries treat the Portuguese word as a formation of its own: Aurélio and Michaelis derive it from Portuguese reflexo + -ivo,^[4][5] and the DLP and Porto Editora from the Latin supine with the suffix -ivo.^[3][6] Silva Bastos had already derived it from the same noun.^[7] Houaiss's first date is for the grammatical sense.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in Bluteau's dictionary as a term of grammar: a verbo reflexivo is one used with a doubled personal pronoun, as in eu me levantey “I got up”.^[8] Bluteau's quotation for it comes from a grammar of French, the Arte da lingua Franc..^[8] Houaiss dates this record to before 1720.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines the reflexive verb as one whose action starts from the agent and ends in him, with matar-se, rir-se and lavar-se as examples.^[9] In 1813 he adds that such verbs are really active verbs used reflexively with the pronouns me, te, se, and that others call them pronominal verbs.^[10]

Vieira (1871–1874) adds the physical sense “reflected, reverberated” and the mental one “meditative, used to speaking and acting with reflection”.^[11] Silva Bastos (1912) also records “communicative”, a sense the DLP and Porto Editora still give.^[7][3][6] Philosophy uses it for thought turned on its own operations, and mathematics for a relation in which every element is related to itself.^[3][2]

Timeline

• Before 1720 – Bluteau enters verbo reflexivo as a term of grammar.^[8][2]
• 1789 – Morais defines the reflexive verb, with matar-se and lavar-se.^[9]
• 1813 – Cunha's first date for the word;^[12][10] Morais adds that such verbs are also called pronominal.^[12][10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the senses “reflected” and “meditative”.^[11]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos adds “communicative”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Thoughtful; given to reflection (reflexão), who thinks things over before acting: um rapaz reflexivo e calado.^[2][13][1]
2. Showing calm and deliberation: um olhar reflexivo.^[2][13]
3. Turned in on oneself, absorbed in one's own thoughts.^[2][13]
4. Reflecting or reflected, of light or sound; reflexo.^[4][14]
5. (philosophy) Concerning the mind's awareness of its own operations.^[2][3]
6. (grammar) reflexive: of a verb or pronoun whose action falls back on the subject, as in lavar-se.^[2][14][1]
7. (mathematics) Of a binary relation in which every element is related to itself.^[3]
8. Communicative, catching.^[3][6]

Noun

1. (linguistics) A reflexive pronoun.^[4]

Related words

• refletir
• refletivo
• reflexo
• reflexão
• Latin reflectō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. reflexivo
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. reflexivo
4. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. reflexivo
5. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. reflexivo
6. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7904
7. ^ a b c Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. reflexivo
8. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. reflexivo
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 306
10. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 578
11. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 149
12. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. refletir
13. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. reflexivo
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. reflexivo