Switch-Reference and Discourse Representation

Abstract

In central cases of switch-reference, a marker on the verb of one clause is used to indicate whether its subject has the same or different reference from the subject of an adjacent, syntactically related clause. In central cases of logophoricity, a special pronoun form is used within a reported speech context, to indicate coherence with the source of reported speech. Lesley Stirling argues that these types of anaphoric linkage across clause boundaries cannot be adequately accounted for by Binding Theory. Her detailed examination of the two phenomena, including a case study of the Papuan language Amele, proposes an account for them which is formalized in Discourse Representation Theory, and explores how far it is possible for such an account to be compositional morpho-syntactic/semantic, while at the same time taking seriously the range of linguistic and cross-linguistic data to be explained. Switch-reference's indication of agreement or disagreement between clauses (or larger discourse units) is shown to function along various parameters contributing to discourse continuity: their major protagonists, spatial and temporal location, and their status as describing actual or non-actual situations. The arguments bear also on general debates around the nature of linguistically marked referential relations and the analysis of logophoric phenomena.

The Finnish logophoric pronoun <i>hän</i>: a quantitative approach

“…Nau 2006). The relational frequency of hän in the main clauses mirrors the hierarchy presented by Stirling (1993Stirling ( : 259 and 1994Stirling ( : 2304, according to which logophoric pronouns are used primarily to transmit speech, and then, in this order, passing on another person's thoughts, cognition, feelings, and perceptions. In this data, as a subject of verbs expressing cognition, the relative frequency of hän is clearly higher than with other verbs.…”

“…Perception verbs do not differ significantly from verbs encoded as "other". Here the frequency of hän-subjects with cognition, emotion, and perception verbs may be seen as complying with the continuum presented by Stirling (1993Stirling ( : 259 and 1994Stirling ( : 2304. The logophoric pronoun hän in Finnish is extended to the main clauses interpreting the referent's thoughts and feelings, but not perception.…”

“…The pattern in the frequency of the pronoun hän can be interpreted as reflecting the continuum presented by Stirling (1993Stirling ( : 259 and 1994Stirling ( : 2304 as mentioned previously, where quoting speech is the primary context of logophoric elements and conveying someone else's mental processes is seen as an extension of this function. In spoken Finnish, the logophoric pronoun hän is the most common, although not a categorical choice, in prototypical indirect quotes.…”

“…An agent is more likely to trigger logophora than an experiencer (Roncador 2006: 313). Stirling (1993Stirling ( : 259 and 1994Stirling ( : 2304 presents a hierarchy of predicates as the following:…”

How report verbs become quote markers and complementisers

“…'" In Buru, pronominal clitics (such as da) are anaphoric elements, whereas full pronouns (such as ringe) are referentially free. Stirling (1993) describes how in switchreference and logophoric systems distinct subject pronouns in a dependent clause indicate same or different reference with the subject of a controlling clause.…”