zich

== Cimbrian == === Etymology 1 === From Middle High German sich, from Old High German sih, from Proto-West Germanic *sik, from Proto-Germanic *sek, cognate with German sich. ==== Pronoun ==== zich Third-person reflexive pronoun: herself, himself, itself, themselves === Etymology 2 === In the first person plural from Middle High German unsich. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) ==== Pronoun ==== zich (Sette Comuni) accusative of bar: us accusative of ze: them ==== See also ==== === References === “zich” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974), Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo == Dutch == === Etymology === From Middle Dutch sich, from Middle High German sich, from Old High German sih, from Proto-West Germanic *sik, from Proto-Germanic *sek. Old Dutch did not have a reflexive pronoun (only rarely in early Limburgish texts), but used the normal accusative pronoun (if necessary intensified by selven, cf. English himself). Although the use of zich in Holland-based Dutch was clearly triggered by written German, this development was assisted by the fact that the south-eastern dialects of Dutch had already adopted certain High German pronoun forms in much earlier times (cf. Limburgish ich, mich, dich, zich). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /zɪx/ Hyphenation: zich Rhymes: -ɪx === Pronoun === zich (reflexive pronoun) Third person singular and plural reflexive pronoun; himself, herself, itself, themselves, oneself Hij wast zich. — He washes himself. Hij wast zich het gezicht. — He washes his face. Ieder voor zich. — Every man for himself. (reflexive pronoun, formal) Second person singular and plural formal reflexive pronoun; yourself, yourselves Sloeg u zich in het donker? ― Did you hit yourself in the dark? U kunt zich hier scheren. ― You can shave here. Vergist u zich niet? ― Aren't you mistaken? expresses an unintended result with many otherwise non-reflexive and ergative verbs Hij viel zich een ongeluk — He fell and this resulted in an accident. Hij lachte zich een bult — He laughed so severely that it left him a hunchback. ==== Usage notes ==== Zich can be used whether the reflexivity of the verb is optional or mandatory. Optionally reflexive verbs can also take zichzelf as reflexive pronoun. As in English (but unlike German and French), Dutch reflexive pronouns do not express reciprocity, except dialectally. Reciprocal senses may occur in fixed verb constructions, as in: Ze hebben zich verloofd. (“They have got engaged.”) Such cases are generally explainable by etymology. (In the example, the original sense is “They have promised themselves [to each other].”) In the formal second person singular and plural, zich alternates with u, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular and different from the informal second person singular, e.g. U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun. ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === References ===