# How did the Portuguese pronoun "se" take on these other functions? Tags: historical-linguistics, pronouns, portuguese - Score: 5 - Views: 687 - Answers: 1 - Answered: yes - Asked by: Otavio Macedo (8306 rep) - Asked: 2012-03-22 - Edited: 2012-03-23 - Site: linguistics ## Question In Portuguese, the third person accusative pronoun se ("himself/herself/itself/themselves") can be used for four different purposes: 1.) Most straightforwardly, as a reflexive pronoun: Mantém-se forte Keeps-himself strong "He keeps himself strong" 2.) As a reciprocal marker: Amam-se Love-themselves "They love each other" 3.) As a particle for subject indetermination: Vive-se bem neste país Lives-oneself well in this country "One lives well in this country" 4.) As a passivizing particle: Vende-se esta casa Sells-itself this house "This house is being sold" How did this pronoun develop to fulfil such different functions? Also, is this unique to Portuguese or has it occurred in other languages as well? ## Answers ### Answer by Mark Beadles (score: 7 [ACCEPTED]) As I understand it this is an evolution from the PIE reflexive to a new mediopassive. PIE is often reconstructed as having two vo