reflexiveness (n.)

A suggested defining property of human LANGUAGE (contrasting with the properties of other SEMIOTIC SYSTEMS) whereby language can be used to ‘talk about’ language; also called reflectiveness or reflexivity. The development of this METALANGUAGE leads to the terminology and notation which this dictionary is attempting to elucidate. If a linguistic form is used as a CITATION FORM it is said to be used reflexively, as in The cat is a noun phrase.