Verbs like wash and dress and other verbs of "caring for the body", whose primary frame is transitive, frequently appear without any overt object (in a nonbasic frame), with the implication that the subject washes, dresses, etc., him or herself (Levin 1993: 35f). Notice though that an explicit reflexive is either odd (e.g. She dressed herself - implies that usually someone else does it) or anomalous (e.g. She flossed herself).
Verb Meaning | Verb form | Basic coding frame | Derived coding frame | Occurs | Comment | # Ex. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|