3V0803.01 Agent, patient, and word order: [Peggy hurt — ] (4/4/80 or earlier)
Miriam sat by the stove, reviewing her multiplication flash cards.
Peggy, Mad at her for some reasons, hit at Miriam and hurt herself by
striking the flash cards. She cried, “Mimi hurt Peggy !”
Miriam corrected her, “No. You did it yourself. Peggy did it.”
Peggy, still crying, said, “Peggy hurt me…Peggy hurt Peggy.”
This exemplifies repetition in an uncertain area of usage. Why the
repetition ? This is surely not for standardization of usage — or the
order would have gone the other way. Is it to bring out different
expressions involving an unfamiliar relation with a familiar action
(reflexivity, with a hurting verb).