Talk:yourselves

Huh?

What does the "intensifier" refer to in the translation table? ---> Tooironic 06:39, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

I don’t see "intensifier" anywhere. —Stephen 16:39, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Really? It's under the first translation table, and offers a Catalan translation of mateixos. ---> Tooironic 04:39, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Looking at mateixos, it has examples - "You yourself are responsible for this disaster." or "The Holy Grail may only be touched by the saints themselves". --Anatoli 05:08, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh, I see it now, it’s the gloss. User:Carolina wren added it here.

I suppose she meant the usage that corresponds to French même, Spanish mismo, etc. I guess "you yourself" is an intensified pronoun for you, and does not really have the literal reflexive sense. It needs to have this sense added as definition No. 2. —Stephen 05:51, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, French même, Spanish mismo are identical to the Russian сам/сама/само/сами - both in nominative and oblique cases (e.g. самого, самому, different from себя, себе, собой). If the definition is split, сам/сама/[[само]/сами would go into def. 2 translations. --Anatoli 12:59, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but perhaps someone should add this second sense to the definitions. ---> Tooironic 04:36, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

I am struggling with the definition. It seems to be the same reflexive pronoun in English. So "wash yourself" and "you yourself" seem to be the same part of speech and no difference in the English form. However, note that a few languages have different forms for these too - e.g. 1) French - se laver - to wash (oneself) (reflexive object, direct or indirect, never in nominative case); 2) fais-le toi-même - do it (you) yourself (intensifier, can be in nominative and oblique cases). Perhaps, Stephen could help? I checked the Russian and the French wiktionaries but haven't got the answer yet. I mean I know about the usage but need to find how to describe this in English. To make things harder there's also "reciprocal" (=each other), not just reflexive. --Anatoli 04:54, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

You’re on the right track. I am not accustomed to writing English definitions of English words, my experience is strictly in translation. —Stephen 17:59, 17 June 2010 (UTC)