Se Author(s): Gordon T. Fish Source: Hispania, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 1966), pp.

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NOTES ON UlSAGE
"SE"

831

GORDON T. FISH USAR, Retired My purpose is to define and account for the Spanish uses of this small but versatile and indispensable word with more precision than is customary in pedagogical and normative grammars. 1. In the ancestral European tongue, se was a particle rather than a pronoun for it lacked all inflection and was used without regard for person, number, or case; as it still is in Slavic and Baltic languages:
ponerse, referirse, regarse, sentirse, valerse, volverse.

5. A limited number of verbs, mostly intransitive, may take a dative of interest which introduces a concept of inception, direction, duration, completion, effort or intensity. The reflexive value is strong but
is lost in translation: acabarse, asomarse, beberse, caerse, callarse, comerse, dormirse, rarse, quedarse, reirse, salirse, sonreirse, tragarse, venirse, volarse. The earliest exhome: vadent se, unus quisque ad (h)ospitium suum.

Elsewhere it became restrictedto the third person and tended to imitate the singular personal pronouns: German, ich, miich, dich, sich; Latin, me, te, se. Latin went so far as to give it a dative, with adverbial ending: ibi, tibi, sibi, but this disappeared. 2. In Romance, se took on functions that have little or no connection with its early reflexive value, functions that seem to us idiomatic and troublesome. The following paragraphsdeal only with these and trace the regression of se from its status as a meaningful personal pronoun to that of a mere particle, a morpheme,an empty word, a tool, back almost to where it started so long ago.
Tripersonal Uses

Czech, ja se vidim, ty se vidis, Vi se vidite.

estarse,irse, llegarse, entrarse, enfermarse, morirse,paIlevarse,Iloverse,marcharse,

ample of this pattern seems to be in Sylvia's Fourth Century letter to the girls back 6. Reflexive is normal when a person or animal acts upon himself in many situations
tive or passive verbs: acostumbrarse, adelan-

whereboth Englishand Latinuse intransiacercarse, alentarse, tarse,afeitarse, alejarse, alzarse, apartarse,apoyarse, apresurarse, arrodillarse, asearse, apurarse,arriesgarse,

3. Always reflexive in modern Spanish:

abstenerse, antojarse, arrepentirse, atenerse, atreverse, ausentarse, dignarse, jactarse, obstinarse, quejarse, refugiarse, resentirse, revolcarse, ruborizarse. With some of these

bafiarse, cansarse, casarse, coluimpiarse, despedirse, detenerse, disp6nerse, doblarse, elevarse, embrollarse, empacientarse, empeiiarse, encargarse, enderezarse, enterarse, esconderse, estirarse, inclinarse, inscribirse, lanzarse, largarse, lavarse, levantarse, mecerse, mezclarse, oponerse, preocuparse, prepararse, resolverse, retirarse, tetnderse, reunirse, unirse, vestirse, volverse.

the reflexive value is obvious, with others it can be explained by etymology: Latin, jactare se (throw oneself about) brag: quejarse is a hybrid of the reflexive-deponent queri (complain) and coaxare (croak!). 4. Reflexive with special meanings: admirarse, agarrarse, agotarse, atravesarse, atropellarse, batirse, burlarse, conformarse, cruzarse, derramarse, desmayarse, empeiiarse, esmerarse, esquivarse, extraiiarse, fiiarse, guardarse, incorporarse, hacerse, Ilevarse, malograrse, ocuparse, parecerse,

strictly the agent: ahogarse, airarse, alegrarse, alentarse, asombrarse, asustarse, avergonzarse, cansarse, despertarse, encenderse, enojarse, erizarse, estremecerse, extraviarse, lamentarse. Some of these actions oneself, facing drown.

7. Action affecting oneself, but brought about by physical or psychic forces is similarly treated, though the subject is not

can, of course be normally reflexive: drown 8. By a peculiar extension, some actions customarily performed on oneself may be treated as reflexive when performed by
Estos sefiores tan ocu pados,

another:

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832

HISPANIA

(Cela). The reverse occurs with verbs of designation; one cannot really call oneself. An equally improbablereflexive was found only in referring to accidental death: Luis
se matd en su coche (Seco). pasajeros se mataron. iNos todos! Unipersonal Todos los mataremos

cuando van a la peluqueria se afeitan, se cortan el pelo, se hacen las manos, se limpian los zapatos, y leen los periddicos

tion: abrirse, agotarse, cerrarse, componerse, descomponerse, derrumbarse, deshacerse, Ilenarse, modificarse, mojarse, quebrarse, realizarse, romperse, secarse, separarse, situarse, venderse, verificarse.

graphs 6 and 7, together with verbs of motion, position, condition, and composi-

9. In the above patterns the reflexive -self can always be felt, but in those to be defined below, limited to third person, se cannot mean -self unless personified. It is reflexive in name only. These uses were unknown to classical Latin, where se was a truly "personal" pronoun only. 10. Stylistic personification is not uncommon: Los arboles se inclinaron, diciendo quien sabe qud voces. La plaza sobre la que se columnpia un aire transparente (Cela). Por el camino se esconden entre los montes los caserios de Chistorne y Ustequi (Cela). Las casas se suceden una tras otra (Cela), reciprocal.

comenzar el trabajo, el trabajo comienza; So, acabar, continuar, asomar, subir, bajar, volver, cambiar, trotar.

13. Some verbs, which have been called do not conform to this pattern: "reversible,"

11. Referring to actions, reactions, and interactionsof inanimate entities, especially in grammatical and scientific writing, an unconscious partial personification treats them as if acting upon each other voluntarily and as equals: Los verbos se diferencian miucho unos con otros. Los demostrativos se sustantivan como los denu's adjetivos. Dos rectas, una perpendicular y otra oblicua a una recta, se encuentran. This

Cela ne se fait pas en France, on ne fait pas cela en France. Any verb, can be used some other reason.

verb as information and when there is no subject, translationmay be passive, but far more frequently it includes some indication of an indefinite subject. The contrast with the preceding pattern is sharp in French: in this manner unless se is required for

se me adelanto (got ahead of me), se me descompuso el coche (broke down on me), se me cayeron los libros (dropped them), se le enferm6 una mula, se le escapd (got away), se me figur6 un gigante (thought I saw), para que no se me inflamara el higado, ydndosele al animal los cuartos traseros, se me olvidd, los ojos se nos llenaron de ldgrimas. 15. When the subject-patient follows the

14. Many verbs listed in the foregoing paragraphs and others admit a personal dative in addition to se, to express involuntary, accidental, or spontaneous action. Translation is often colloquial in English:

goes back at least to the Fourth Century in

Vulgar Latin: Hic morbus se ad corpora increscens ... sanguinis detractione siccatur (Miulomnedicina Chironis).

16. Objects which normally call for a, and pronouns replacing them, cannot be converted into subject-patient: Se les ve. This anomalous pattern is keyed to per12. In the following patterns the normal sonal objects only statistically and is not a relationship of subject and object is re- device for the avoidance of ambiguity, versed, the natural object-patient is made though it may incidentally have that effect: subject-patient, the reflexive se losing its No era una reunidn a la que se habia meaning, has only a function, and accord- convocado. Se oia una gallina decir ternezas ing to Seco, in one situation "se siente a los pollos. Se les habia golpeadoa las como sujeto el se." When the subject is mulas, but: En el Uiltimo sitio se afeitaba topic and no agent is in mind, English un hombre pelirrojo (par. 8.) No valid rule translation is passive, less frequently, in- can be laid down as to choice of pronouns; transitive. This occurs principally but not le(s) is normal accusative for both genders, exclusively with the verbs listed in para- with la(s) for feminine persons. The in-

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NOTESON USAGE fluence of paragraph 13 and of laismo is apparent. The construction is recent in the language, avoided by many writers and mishandled by substandardspeakers:Dame lo que se le unta al latigo. Asi se liamaban los antiguos romanos a los que dirigian las caballerias.Even standardwriters occasionally deviate from the norm: un cuerno con una correa para cuando se le quiere llevar en bandolera.

833

This note does not deal with se, the dative used for le, nor does it attempt to account for all intricacies and odds and ends of reflexive usage, like: Se sabia ya todos los pueblos de Castilla la Vieja, an apprentice postal clerk; cuando se tienen ganas de caminar; la culpa me tengo yo; tui te lo sabes; echatemelo; se me lo llevd, me temo que es verdad.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS? Please notify the Secretary-Treasurer promptly! SPANISH CLUB MANUAL of B. Clausing's "Resource Guide for Teachers of Mrs. Ruth Reprints Spanish and Club Advisors of Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica," published in the March 1963 Hispania, are available with sturdy covers at $1.00. Please send your orders to the Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Eugene Savaiano, Spanish Department, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. STUDENT MEMBERSHIPS Please remind your students-and other teachers' students-that they may join the AATSP for $3.00, receive Hispania, and enjoy all other privileges of membership, except the right to vote. A PROGRAM OF HISPANIC STUDIES FOR THE COLLEGE STUDENT Copies, with covers, of The Program, by Gardiner H. London and Robert G. Mead, Jr., (printed in the May 1961 Hispania, pp. 383-406), are available for 50c (50 per cent discount on orders of five or more) from the SecretaryTreasurer, Dr. Eugene Savaiano, Spanish Department, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. Tell your students about The Program and urge them to order copies. NO MORE BACK ISSUES, PLEASE! AATSP Headquarters is suspending for the time being the purchase of all back issues of Hispania requested in previous issues. We wish to thank those who responded earlier to our request.

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