Tuesday April 16, 2013
Reciprocal words
By FADZILAH AMIN
I WAS driving along merrily in my car yesterday with the radio on when I felt disturbed by some words of an advertisement from the radio station.
They went something like “... where both tradition and modernity meet.” No, no, I thought, “both” should not be used there! I’ve heard this sort of usage before in Malaysia, and it’s just not correct. But why?
The verb “meet” in that clause is what is known as a “reciprocal verb”, which cannot be used with “both” in a clause like the above.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary (2004, revised 2009), in its second definition of “reciprocal”, includes a definition in the field of grammar “(of a pronoun or verb) expressing mutual action or relationship”.
A reciprocal verb denotes a reciprocal action between two (or two groups of) people or things, or mutual feelings between two (or two groups of) people.
“These are verbs which involve two subjects equally. The subjects ... can be in any order without any change of meaning, as the action represented by the verb is done by both parties equally to, or with, each other.” (Wiktionary). Let me apply these definitions to explain why “both” should not be used in “... where both tradition and modernity meet.”
“Meet” here is a reciprocal verb with two equal subjects – “tradition” and “modernity”. The subjects are equal and the verb reciprocal, because when tradition meets modernity, modernity must also meet tradition.
It is one action, not two. So, we don’t need the addition of the word “both” before the subjects.
“The verb itself makes the meaning clear,” as Michael Swan writes in a related context (Practical English Usage, 3rd ed. 2005, 171.4).
I have heard the word “both” used so many times in this country with reciprocal verbs.
For example, some Malaysians say, of a newly-wed couple (let us call them Adam and Aida): “Both Adam and Aida got married last month.” That would imply that they each married a different person! “Adam and Aida got married last month” is clearer.
Other examples, often heard, are: “Oh, they’re both dating!”, or more trendily, “They’re both an item!” and “They’re both quarrelling again!” In each case, the word “both” should be taken out of the sentence.
Like “meet”, the verbs “marry”, “date” and “quarrel” above are reciprocal verbs. When Adam married Aida, it stands to reason that Aida must also have married Adam.
Likewise, if Jack is dating Jill, Jill must also be dating Jack; and if he is quarrelling with her, she must be quarrelling with him too! It takes two to date and quarrel, and for that matter to “be an item”. So “both” is unnecessary.
Sometimes, a reciprocal verb is used with a “reciprocal pronoun”. There are two of the latter in English: “each other” and “one another”. They have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably.
Here is an example: “Manchester United and Manchester City (two English football clubs) are competing with one another for the Premier League title.”
There is reciprocity here, because while Manchester United is competing with Manchester City, Manchester City is also competing with Manchester United for the title.
Collins Cobuild Grammar has sections on “reciprocal pronouns” as well as “reciprocal verbs”, but the latter section mainly discusses how reciprocal verbs are used with reciprocal pronouns in sentences to emphasize equal involvement of their subjects in the action. One of its examples is: “We’ve got to be able to communicate with each other.”
Reciprocal pronouns also help to clarify the meanings of sentences using reciprocal verbs. In my sentence about the football teams above, “one another” clarifies who each of the two teams are competing with, while in the example from Collins Cobuild Grammar, “each other” clarifies who “we” have got to be able to communicate with.
Even a clearly independent reciprocal verb like “marry” can sometimes be used with “each other” or “one another” for clarification in certain situations. Take the following scenario:
You are at a party and you remark to a friend that a man and a woman standing some distance away are particularly attractive. Your friend then says: “They are married.” You ask: “To whom?” And your friend replies: “They are married to each other.”
There are verbs that are considered reciprocal only when they are used with reciprocal pronouns. One example is the verb “know” in the sentence “Anyhow, you and Harriet know one another.” quoted by Bas Arts in Oxford Modern English Grammar (2011, p.50). In fact, the sentence would not be complete without the reciprocal pronoun “one another”.
“Know”, however, is more commonly used as a non-reciprocal verb in such sentences as “He knows a lot about current affairs.”, or “I know your name but you don’t know mine!”
To get back to where I began, I am not saying that we can’t use “both” in the same sentence as a reciprocal verb. We just can’t apply it when both parties are subjects of the reciprocal verb.
If one of the parties consists of two people or things, then we can use “both” to apply to them (together), as in “Both Aida and Adele met their father for the first time when they were at university” This can also be stated as “Their father met both Aida and Adele for the first time when they were at university.”
As for the verb “marry”, it would be more tricky to put it in a sentence with the above structure, unless one of the parties has married both members of the other party. But let me see, I do have a sentence:
“Barbara Cartland, the English romantic novelist, was married to both Alexander McCorquodale and later his cousin Hugh McCorquodale.”
This can also be turned the other way round to read: “Both Alexander McCorquodale and later his cousin Hugh McCorquodale were married to Barbara Cartland, the English romantic novelist.” (facts from Cartland’s Obituary, Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2000)
● Fadzilah Amin taught English literature at university, but after retirement started teaching English language. Mind Our English is published once a week on Tuesdays. For comments or inquiries on English usage, please contact the writer at fedela7@yahoo.co.uk
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