Introducing the cross-linguistic comparison of reflexive constructions

The topic of reflexivity has been extensively discussed in linguistics over the last few decades. It also attracted the attention of philosophers, cognitive scientists, psychologists, and even artificial intelligence scholars. The domain of reflexivity is complex and has been investigated at various grammatical levels from different theoretical perspectives. It is situated at the interface between semantics, syntax, phonology, and phonetics, and is frequently framed within the generative and functional-typological approach. The aim of this chapter is twofold. Firstly, it presents the research on reflexivity in the linguistic arena by providing a concise overview. Secondly, it introduces the present volume giving special attention to its aims, organization, language sample, and language experts.