Re: Active and Passive please help.

Christophe Grandsire wrote:
>
> > << Or a passive, as in Spanish, "Se llama John", "He calls himself John"
> >
> >     Reflexive, of course, is what you mean, no?  ~:D
>
> Except that if it had a reflexive meaning, it would mean that the  man
chose
> himself a name, which is usually not the case. So the form may use a
reflexive
> pronoun, but its meaning is not reflexive at all.
Well, that depends on how you define names. Is a name something you are
given at birth, and which you are stuck with for the rest of your life? Or
is a name a label by which you call yourself? Ot is it the current label
your environment uses to refer to you? People can have many names (official
names, nick names, aliases etc.). I prefer the definition of a name as that
by which you call yourself. In this case, the Spanish use of "se llamar" is
not that illogical.

Maarten

Replies