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    6.7 Reciprocal pronouns
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    A reciprocal is a type of pronoun that must find an antecedent within a local domain, which is generally the clause. The most common antecedent is the subject. An example is given below:

    1
    Brure skällen eenuur an dän Dood uutlieverje.
    brothers shall RECIP to the death up.deliver
    Brothers shall deliver each other up to death.

    The reciprocal commonly occurs in the object position of a verb or an adposition, though it is also found in the possessor position. The semantic effect of a reciprocal is that each individual making up the antecedent is involved in an event, either in the role assigned to the antecedent or in the role assigned to the reciprocal. Thus in the example above, each brother either betrays or is betrayed.

    The sections below present various aspects of reflexives.

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    [+]1. The reciprocal as object in VP

    The reciprocal eenuur ‘one another’ is the native Frisian form, but it is not used much anymore. The present-day system seems to use the reflexive sik as the reciprocal for the object position of the verb. When a reciprocal interpretation is not infrequent with the verb, or pragmatically clear from the context, the reflexive pronoun carries a reciprocal interpretation by itself. An example is gioven below:

    2
    Do beten sik twäin Huunde.
    then bit REFL two dogs
    Then two dogs bit each other.

    In case the reciprocal interpretation is not so clear from the pragmatic context, then the reflexive pronoun is reinforced by an element making it clear that a reciprocal interpretation is involved, by way of disambiguation. An example is given below, featuring the reciprocal adjective juunsiedig ‘mutual’, here used as an adverbial:

    3
    Jo häbe sik juunsiedich holpen.
    they have REFL mutual helped
    They helped each other.

    The following example features the reciprocal reinforcement enefoaruur ‘one for the other’.

    4
    Jo kuden sik enefoaruur nit ferstounde.
    they could REFL one.for.other not understand
    They could not understand each other.

    The native reciprocal is also used to disambiguate the reflexive pronoun, as in the following example:

    5
    As do Seelter an loange Winteräiwende sik eenuur besoachten.
    when the Seelter on long winter.evenings REFL RECIP visited
    When the Saterlanders visited each other on long winter evenings.

    We already suggested the hypothesis (see: reflexive pronouns) that in an earlier stage of the language, the native reciprocal pronoun was ousted by the reflexive pronoun, which could have reciprocal interpretations in the source language (Low German). It seems that sik has a quite general reflexive interpretation. Consider an example like the following:

    6
    Man dät Gould wülen jo sik deelje.
    but the gold wanted they REFL divide
    But they wanted to divide the gold among each other.

    In this example, the distinction between a reflexive and a reciprocal interpretation is blurred, since it does not involve a relation between the members of a group, but also a relation between the group as a whole and its members. From a collective perspective, a reciprocal process can be conceptualised as a reflexive process affecting the group as a whole. From the perspective of individuals, a group-reflexive process can be conceptualised as a reciprocal process. Variation in conceptual perspective might explain variation across languages in the compartments assigned to the reflexive pronoun and to the reciprocal pronoun. In German, the reciprocal pronoun is sparingly used, and this has affected Saterland Frisian over the centuries. In West Frisian and Dutch, the reciprocal is extensively used.

    [+]2. The reciprocal as object in PP

    PPs feature the reciprocal pronoun nunner. Some examples are given below:

    7
    As wie wier mädnunner ättere Skoule genen.
    when we again with.RECIP to.the school went
    When we went to school again with each other.
    8
    Toumäts ronnen do Doansljude uutnunner.
    sometimes walked the dance.people out.RECIP
    Sometimes the dancers walked away from each other.
    9
    Do bee wieren nu ful bienunner.
    the(y) both were now much at.RECIP
    They now were a lot together (in each other’s company).
    10
    Wie studen mädnunner bute.
    we stood with.RECIP outside
    We stood outside together.

    The last two examples provide fairly clear cases of the different ways in which to conceptualise a situation of togetherness. In Saterland Frisian, the situation is conceived of as a reciprocal situation from the perspective of the individuals: X is with Y and Y is with X. But English takes an integrated perspective, which is expressed by the adverbial together, which can be omitted in the last example. The reciprocal PP also allows of idiom formation, as in the following example:

    11
    Nu geen ’t bie Gerd Otten daach aal wät truchnunner.
    now went it at Gerd Otten but yet what through.RECIP
    But now Gerd Otten got nonetheless a bit confused.

    Here the antecedent of the reciprocal pronoun is the third person neuter pronoun, which may have vague situational reference. But here it refers to Gerd Otten’s mental state, which is conceived of as a plurality of ordered things which take each other’s place, causing confusion. It may also be appreciated that the reciprocal pronoun takes a singular antecedent. Singular non-human antecedents are likewise found in the following example:

    12
    Insen hieden Bussen sun gansen Buurenwoain uutnunnernuumen un do Deele buppe ap dät Däk wier innunnersät.
    once had boys such.a whole farm.wagon out.RECIP.taken and the parts above on the roof again in.RECIP.set
    Once boys had taken such a farm wagon completely apart, and put the parts together again on the roof.

    It is characteristic of Frisian and Dutch that the reciprocal can refer to the parts of a singular object. These examples are strongly idiomatic, with the adposition selecting a reciprocal. Such reciprocals are also termed inherent reciprocals. Another interesting example is the following, in which the antecedent of the reciprocal is contained in a PP:

    13
    Dät in een Täärp al uum 1900 die Kilmerstuute fon alle Noabere mädnunner broacht wuden is.
    That in a village already around 1900 the peat.bread of all neighbours with.RECIP brought become is.
    That in a village already around 1900 the peat bread was brought by all neighbours together.

    The reciprocal PP can also be analysed as an adverbial phrase added to the NP alle Noabere ‘all neighbours’. The changes which we see in Saterland Frisian testify to the slow but steady influence of German, in which the reflexive is prominent but the reciprocal is not. Furthermore, it is quite normal in German to have reflexive verbs (verbs with a formal reflexive) having a reciprocal interpretation such as sich lieben ‘love one another’, sich kennen ‘know each other’, and so on.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra, Bouke Slofstra
      Category: Saterfrisian Syntax
      Version: 1.0, December 2023
      Version history:
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      1.0 Eric Hoekstra, Bouke Slofstra December 2023
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