The conceptual basis for reflexive constructions in Japanese

•Japanese has a variety of words for self corresponding to English reflexive pronouns.•Their semantics is explained in terms of the “Subject-Self” metaphor.•The metaphor divides a person into a Subject and one or more Selves.•Four conceptual models are proposed based on the Subject-Self distinction.•Each of the models represents the semantics of different reflexive constructions.

Japanese has a variety of words for self corresponding to English reflexive pronouns, such as zibun, zisin, mizukara, onore, and ware, which can all be used as reflexive markers. Moreover, words for body or mind like karada ‘body’ and kokoro ‘mind/heart’ can also be regarded as reflexive markers when used to describe self-directed actions like stretching oneself and bracing oneself. Just to say that reflexive constructions are those in which the subject is coreferential with the object does not explain the multiplicity of reflexive markers in Japanese. This paper argues that the multiplicity and intricacy of Japanese reflexive constructions can be accounted for in terms of conceptual models based on the “Subject-Self” metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999), according to which a person is divided into a Subject and one or more Selves. It is shown that reflexive constructions in Japanese consist of a family of constructions that have different lexical forms and meanings but whose conceptual basis is provided by the Subject-Self distinction.