Reciprocal constructions (Hungarian)

RcprNonRefl: Reciprocity is expressed with a single verb; the grammatical encoding of reciprocity is different than that of reflexivity.


(1) a diák-ok szeret-ik egymás-t.

the student-pl love-prs.obj.3pl each_other-acc

‘The students like each other.’


(2) laci és nóri szeret-ik egymás-t.

Laci and Nóri love-prs.obj.3pl each_other-acc

’Laci és Nóri szeretik egymást.’


(3) a gyerek-ek viccelőd-nek egymás-sal.

the child-pl joke-prs.3pl each_other-com

‘The children are joking with each other.’


(4) péter csak magá-t szeret-i.

Péter only himself-acc love-prs.obj.3sg

‘Peter only loves himself.’


In Hungarian, mutuality is expressed by the egymás reciprocal pronoun (1)–(3), which is distinct from the maga reflexive pronoun (4). The reciprocal pronoun can appear in various sentence functions (e.g. object, adjunct, modifier). Next to the word egymás, the subject can be plural (1), (3) or in a coordinated construction (2) (cf. Kenesei et al. 1998: 141‒149).

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás