Part of
Contrastive Studies in Verbal ValencyEdited by Lars Hellan, Andrej L. Malchukov and Michela Cennamo
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 237] 2017
► pp. 407–430
The paper discusses semantic effects associated with the alternation between the reflexive and the non-reflexive form of a restricted class of 38 Romanian unaccusative verbs. We start by summarizing the values of the Romanian reflexive marker se and then we present the inventory of Romanian unaccusatives which enter the reflexive/non-reflexive alternation. Finally, we tell apart several classes of Romanian alternating unaccusatives on the basis of the factors which dictate the choice of the reflexive or the non-reflexive form, we compare these factors with the ones that are at play for other Romance languages, and we conclude that a unitary semantic analysis of the alternation is not available for Romanian.