If there are reflexive constructions of type (a) ‘Er küßt sich mit ihr’ in a language, there are likely to be reflexive constructions of type (b) ‘Sie küssen sich’; the reverse is not true.
Standardized
IF there are reflexive constructions of type (a) X VERBs REFL WITH Y, THEN there are likely to be reflexive constructions of type (b) X & Y VERB REFL.
1. Examples from German:(a) Er küßt sich mit ihr he kisses REFL with her(b) Sie küssen sich they kiss REFLAccording to Wellander, in Old High German there was type (b) and no type (a).2. The relevant verb class are, essentially, symmetric predicates. There is great variation among relevant verbs (and speakers) as to whether they permit construction (a). But it seems to be valid that EACH VERB which permits construction (a) also permits (b).3. There are also a few other prepositions possible in (a), e.g.: Er trennt sich von ihr he separates REFL from her Sie trennen sich they separate REFL4. There are subtle semantic differences between constructions (a) and (b).5. The availability of a type (a) construction, called “discontinuous reflexives”, has been claimed – by Tanya Reinhardt, Tal Siloni, Alexis Dimitriadis, et al. (Utrecht), elaborating a distinction between LEXICAL and GRAMMATICAL reflexives – to be of considerable typological significance, correlating with further differences in the grammar and lexical representation of argument structure.
1. Examples from German:(a) Er küßt sich mit ihr he kisses REFL with her(b) Sie küssen sich they kiss REFLAccording to Wellander, in Old High German there was type (b) and no type (a).2. The relevant verb class are, essentially, symmetric predicates. There is great variation among relevant verbs (and speakers) as to whether they permit construction (a). But it seems to be valid that EACH VERB which permits construction (a) also permits (b).3. There are also a few other prepositions possible in (a), e.g.: Er trennt sich von ihr he separates REFL from her Sie trennen sich they separate REFL4. There are subtle semantic differences between constructions (a) and (b).5. The availability of a type (a) construction, called “discontinuous reflexives”, has been claimed – by Tanya Reinhardt, Tal Siloni, Alexis Dimitriadis, et al. (Utrecht), elaborating a distinction between LEXICAL and GRAMMATICAL reflexives – to be of considerable typological significance, correlating with further differences in the grammar and lexical representation of argument structure.