Switch reference

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In linguistics, switch reference is a morphological feature found on verbs in some languages which provides for anaphoric linkage between clauses. Specifically, a verb with switch-reference markers will indicate whether the subject of a verb is the same as or different from the subject of some other verb (Haiman and Munro 1983:ix, quoted in Mithun 1999). Besides indicating the sameness or difference of subjects, switch-reference markers may also directly or indirectly indicate other information about the relationship between the two clauses, in a manner similar to coordinating conjunctions.

The basic distinction made by a switch-reference system is whether the following clause has the same subject (SS) or a different subject (DS). For purposes of switch-reference, subject is defined as it is for languages with a nominative-accusative alignment: a subject is the sole argument of an intransitive clause, or the agent of a transitive one. This holds even in languages with a high degree of ergativity. However, SS and DS may be used to indicate relations besides that of the nominative subject, and languages with rich switch-reference systems may indicate other grammatical relations.

The Washo language of California and Nevada exhibits a switch-reference system. When the subject of one verb and the subject of the following verb is the same, then the verb takes no switch-reference marker. However, if the subject of one verb differs from the subject of the following verb, then the verb takes the "different subject" marker, -š (examples from Mithun 1999:269):

yá·saʔ	duléʔšugi	yá·saʔ	gedumbéc̓edášaʔi
again	he.is.reaching.toward.him	again	he.is.going.to.poke.him
"Again he is reaching toward him, again he will poke him" (same subject)

mémluyi	-š	lémehi
you.eat	-DIFFERENT.SUBJECT	I.will.drink
"If you eat, I will drink" (different subjects)

Besides showing similarity or difference between subjects in consecutive clauses (called sequential marking), some switch-reference systems may also mark verbs with respect to a focus clause in a sentence (usually the final one), regardless of whether the focus clause follows after the marked clause. Sequential verbs with the same subjects may thus take DS markers if their subjects differ from that of the focus clause. This form of switch-reference has been termed focus marking, and is believed to exist in the Kashaya language.

[edit] Additional distinctions

Same-subject and different-subject may sometimes be used with the "opposite" subject. For example, where the subject of the following clause is different than that of the preceding clause, but the actions described by the clauses are tightly coupled, the same-subject marker may be used instead. Conversely, different-subject markers may be used where the actual subject is the same when those clauses describe unconnected events. The same- and different-subject marking is therefore being used not just to common subjects, but also to describe continuity or discontinuity of events.

Some languages explicitly reference the interclausal relationship in their switch-reference systems. Kâte, a Huon language of New Guinea, has four switch-reference markers cross-indexing SS and DS with whether the events of the clauses occur in succession or overlap. A more complex system, found in Northern or Tundra Yukaghir, divides both SS and DS forms into scene-setting and neutral forms, the former indicating that the situation described by the marked clause is out of scope of the actions of the following clause, and the latter making no such distinction. SS forms are further subdivided into privative forms, showing that the connection between cluses is contrary to expectations; perfective forms, which indicate that the following clause occurs after the marked clause; and imperfective forms, showing that the clauses may occur simultaneously, and which are also further specified as being thematically linked or part of the same action. Other complex systems may be found in the Panoan language Cashinahua, which has ten markers, specifying uncompleted or overlapping events, completed events, and events that complete a succession of previous events, all in addition to the subjects involved; and in Panare, which may describe clauses as having the relationships of reason, movement, purpose, or result. Such switch-reference systems add meanings that other languages accomplish through the use of conjunctions.

[edit] Properties of languages with switch-reference

Languages featuring switch-reference often have a reduced or modified notion of syntactic pivot: there is little restriction on the sorts of roles that may appear or be omitted in coordinated propositions, and pivots may be better expressed as pragmatic or semantic roles as opposed to grammatical ones. Switch-reference languages may also lack such operations as passive and antipassive voices, or use them only for semantic effect, the grammatical uses of said voices being handled by the switch-reference system.

[edit] References

• Haiman, John, and Pamela Munro, eds. (1983). Switch Reference and Universal Grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Marianne Mithun (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7. 
• Richard Montag (2005). "Participant referencing in Cashinahua" (PDF). SIL Electronic Working Papers. Retrieved on 2006-06-16.
• Payne, Thomas (1997). Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field Linguists. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58805-7.