On the idiom 'sjá sig eftir' and reflexivity

Abstract

This article deals with the idiom sjá sig eftir, a variant of sjá eftir, more or less in the same meaning as iðrast ‛repent, regret’. The experiencer subject is in the nominative. The accusative form of the reflexive pronoun, sig, theorectically the indirect object of the verb, is bound and commanded by the next subject. Consequently, the binding domain is short and the pronoun is a short-distance one. Semantically, it could be argued that the reflexive pronoun is a part of the verb which is inherently reflexive. Syntactically, the reflexive pronoun in question behaves mostly like other obligatory reflexive pronouns.

The examples of sjá sig eftir, from written texts as well as the spoken language, are from the middle of the nineteenth century to the last quarter of the twentieth. Most of the examples are from the eastern part of Iceland, and this includes all of the spoken language examples.

It could be argued that the examples of sjá sig eftir are relics. It doesn‘t have to be so, as there are sporadic examples of other experiencer-subject verbs, normally not reflexive, as reflexive ones (e.g. hlakka (sig) til ‘look forward to’). Some of the examples are from child language. Furthermore, there are corresponding examples from related languages that show the same behaviour.