reciprocal pronoun

The reciprocal pronouns in English are one another and each other. Together with the reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves, and others — they are classified as anaphors.

Reciprocity is the broader concept, of which reflexivity is a special case. Reciprocity has A relating to B and B relating in exactly the same way to A. Reflexivity is the concept of A reciprocating with itself.

• Reciprocal: A↔B = A→B and A←B = A→B and B→A
• Reflexive: A↔A = A→A and A←A = A→A and A→A = simply A→A

Examples:

• Reciprocal: They all said "Hello" to one another.
• Reflexive: All alone, he had no friends but himself.

The classical Greek reciprocal pronoun was allēlōn (ἀλλἠλων). From this stems the word parallel: para allēlois (παρὰ ἀλλήλοις) "beside each other".

See also

• Reciprocal (grammar)
• Reflexive pronoun

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