Until not very long ago, switch reference was regarded as a marginal phenomenon found in a handful of lesser-known languages. An increasing number of studies of the phenomenon made it clear, however, that the geographical extent of switch-reference systems is rather large, spanning large parts of the New World, Siberia, Oceania, Australia, and also including some areas in Africa and East Asia. The growing body of information on the topic raises new theoretical and empirical questions about the development, functions, and nature of switch reference, as well as the internal variation between different switch reference systems. This contribution will give an overview of the relevant issues that are involved in switch reference, focusing on geographical, typological-theoretical, and diachronic aspects, and suggesting a number of lines for further research.
1980Switch-reference in Australian languages. In Munro (ed.), 7-47.
Austin, Peter
1981Switch-reference in Australia. Language 57(2): 309-334.
Bickel, Balthasar
1991Typologische Grundlagen der Satzverketterung: ein Beitrag zur allgemeinen Grammatik der Satzverbindung und des Fährtenlegens. Zürich: Seminar für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft.
Bickel, Balthasar
1999From ergativus absolutus to topic marking in Kiranti: A typological perspective. Proceedings of the
25th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1999), General Session
: 38-49.
Bickel, Balthasar
2010Towards a multivariate typology of reference tracking. Presentation given at the Meeting of the Research Group 742 “Grammar and Processing of Verbal Arguments”. Powerpoint: [URL]
Bickel, Balthasar & Nichols, Johanna
2007Inflectional morphology. In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, Vol. III: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon, Timothy Shopen (ed.), 169-240. Cambridge: CUP.
Borer, Hagit
1989Anaphoric AGR. In The Null Subject Parameter, Osvaldo Jaeggli & Kenneth Safir (eds), 69-109. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Broadwell, George Aaron
1997Binding theory and switch reference. In Atomism and Binding, Hans Bennis, Pierre Pica & Johan Rooryck (eds), 31-49. Dordrecht: Foris.
Campbell, Lyle
1997American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: OUP.
Camacho, José
2010On case concord: The syntax of switch-reference clauses. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 28: 239-274.
Chomsky, Noam
1981Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.
Chomsky, Noam
1995The Minimalist Program. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Cole, Peter, Hermon, Gabriella & Huang, C.T. James
2001Long-distance reflexives: The state of the art. In Syntax and Semantics, 33: Long-distance Reflexives, Peter Cole, Gabriella Hermon & C.T. James Huang (eds), xiii-xlvii. San Diego CA: Academic Press.
1998An Erromangan (Sye) grammar [Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication]. Honolulu HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Dickinson, Connie
2002Complex Predicates in Tsafiki. PhD dissertation, University of Oregon.
Dixon, Robert M.W
1979Ergativity. Language 55(1): 59-138.
Ferreira, Rogério Vicente
2005Língua Matis (Pano): Uma descrição grammatical. PhD disssertation, Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Finer, Daniel
1984The Formal Grammar of Switch-reference. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA.
Finer, Daniel
1985The syntax of switch-reference. Linguistic Inquiry 16: 35-55.
Foley, William A. & Van Valin, Robert D
1984Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: CUP.
Gabas Jr., Nilson
1999A Grammar of Karo, Tupi (Brazil). PhD dissertation, University of California at Santa Barbara.
Georgi, Doreen
2012Switch-reference by movement. In Perspectives on Switch-reference: Local Modeling and Empirical Distribution, Philipp Weisser (ed.), 1-40. Leipzig: Institut für Linguistik.
van Gijn, Rik
2006A grammar of Yurakaré. PhD disseration, Radboud University Nijmegen.
2014Repeated dependent clauses in Yurakaré. In Information Structure and Reference Tracking in Complex Sentences [Typological Studies in Language 105], Rik van Gijn, Dejan Matić, Jeremy Hammond, Saskia van Putten & Ana Vilacy Galucio (eds), 291-308. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gijn, Rik van & Hammarström, Harald
Forthcoming. A construction‐based approach to measuring distances between languages: Subordination strategies in South America.
2003Logophoricity in Africa: An attempt to explain and evaluate the significance of its modern distribution. Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 56(4): 366-387.
Haiman, John
1979Hua: A Papuan language of New Guinea. In Languages and their Speakers, Timothy Shopen (ed.), 35-89. Cambridge: Winthrop.
1983bIntroduction. In Haiman & Munro (eds), ix-xv.
Hammond, Jeremy
2014Switch-reference antecedence and subordination in Whitesands (Oceanic). In Information Structure and Complex Sentences [Typological Studies in Language 105], Rik van Gijn, Jeremy Hammond, Dejan Matić, Saskia van Putten & Ana Vilacy Galucio (eds), 263-290. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Haspelmath, Martin
2007Coordination. In Shopen (ed.), 1-51.
Headland, Paul & Levinsohn, Stephen
1977Prominence and cohesion in Tunebo discourse. In Discourse Grammar Studies in the Languages of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, Vol. 2, Robert E. Longacre & Frances M. Woods (eds), 133-157. Norman OK: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1967Switch-reference in Hokan-Coahuiltecan. In Studies in Southwestern Ethnolinguistics: Meaning and History in the Languages of the American Southwest, Dell Hymes & William E. Bittle (eds), 238-263. The Hague: Mouton.
1997Coreferential marking in Tupí-Guaraní languages. Paper presented at the
XIII International Conference of Historical Linguistics
, Düsseldorf, Germany August 10-15, 1997. Handout: [URL]
Keenan, Edward & Comrie, Bernard
1977Noun phrase accessibility and universal grammar. Linguistic Inquiry 8(1): 63-99.
Keine, Stefan
2013Deconstructing switch-reference. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 31(3): 767-826.
Kibrik, Andrej A
2011Reference in Discourse. Oxford: OUP.
Langdon, Margaret & Munro, Pamela
1979Subject and (switch-) reference in Yuman. Folia Linguistica 13: 321-344.
Lee, Hyeran
2003Dependency of long-distance reflexives. In Proceedings of the 17th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, Dong Hong Ji & Kim Teng Lua (eds), 431-440. Sentosa, Singapore: COLIPS Publications. [URL]
Lehmann, Christian
1988Towards a typology of clause linkage. In Clause Combining in Grammar and Discourse [Typological Studies in Language 18], John Haiman & Sandra A. Thompson (eds), 181-226. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Longacre, Robert E
1972Hierarchy and Universality of Discourse Constituents in New Guinea Languages. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
2014Information structure and reference tracking in complex sentences: An overview. In Information Structure and Reference Tracking in Complex Sentences [Typological Studies in Language 105], Rik van Gijn, Jeremy Hammond, Dejan Matić, Saskia van Putten & Ana Vilacy Galucio (eds.), 1-42. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
McKenzie, Andrew
2012The Role of Contextual Restriction in Reference Tracking. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
McKenzie, Andrew
2015A survey of switch-reference in North America. International Journal of American Linguistics 81(3): 409-448.
McLendon, Sally
1978Ergativity, case, and transitivity in Eastern Pomo. International Journal of American Linguistics 44(1): 1-9.
Mithun, Marianne
1993“Switch-reference”: Clause combining in Central Pomo. International Journal of American Linguistics 59(2): 119-136.
Mithun, Marianne
1999The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: CUP.
Munro, Pamela
1976Subject copying, auxiliarization, and predicate raising: The Mojave evidence. International Journal of American Linguistics 42: 99-112.
Munro, Pamela
(ed.)1980aStudies of Switch-reference [UCLA Papers in Syntax 8]. Los Angeles CA: University of California Los Angeles.
Munro, Pamela
1980bIntroduction. In Munro (ed.), 1-3.
Munro, Pamela
1980cOn the syntactic status of switch-reference clauses: The special case of Mojave comitatives. In Munro (ed.), 145-160.
1993Disjoint reference and pragmatic inference: anaphora and switch-reference in Northern Pomo. In The Role of Theory in Language Description, William Foley (ed.), 215-242. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Olson, Michael
1978Switch reference in Barai. Proceedings of the
Fourth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society
4: 140-156.
Olson, Michael
1981Barai Clause Junctures: Toward a Functional Theory of Interclausal Relations. Canberra: Australian National University.
Olsson, Bruno
2010Subordinate clauses in Kashaya Pomo. MA Thesis University of Stockholm, available online at [URL]
Oswalt, Robert L
1976Switch reference in Maiduan: An areal and typological contribution. International Journal of American Linguistics 42(4): 297-304.
Overall, Simon
2007A Grammar of Aguaruna. PhD dissertation, LaTrobe University.
Payne, Doris L
1980Switch-reference in Chickasaw. In Munro (ed.), 89-118.
Payne, Thomas E
1980Who’s kissing who: The fourth person in Yup’ik Eskimo. In Munro (ed.), 65-88.
Popovich, A. Harald
1986The nominal reference system of Maxakalí. In Pronominal Systems, Ursula Wiesemann (ed.), 351-358. Tübingen: Gunther Narr.
2014Topic management and clause combination in the Papuan language Usan. In Information Structure and Reference Tracking in Complex Sentences [Typological Studies in Language 105], Rik van Gijn, Jeremy Hammond, Dejan Matić, Saskia van Putten & Ana Vilacy Galucio (eds.), 231-262. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Roberts, John R
1988Amele switch-reference and the theory of grammar. Linguistic Inquiry 19(1): 45–63.
Roberts, John R
1997Switch-reference in Papua New Guinea: A preliminary survey. In Papers in Papuan Linguistics, No. 3 [Pacific Linguistics, A-87], Andrew Pawley (ed.), 101-241. Canberra: Australian National University.
Roberts, John R
Forthcoming a. The typology of switch reference. Ms.
Roberts, John R
Forthcoming b. A grammatical sketch of Amele. To appear in The Cambridge Handbook of Role and Reference Grammar, Robert Van Valin, Jr (ed.) Cambridge CUP
Rodrigues, Aryon D
1999Macro-Jê. In The Amazonian Languages, Robert M.W. Dixon & Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (eds), 164-206. Cambridge: CUP.
Rudnev, Pasha
2008Some syntax and semantics of long distance reflexives in Turkish and elsewhere. [URL]
Scott, Graham
1973Higher Levels of Fore Grammar [Pacific Linguistics B-47]. Canberra: Australian National University.
1999From anaphoric pronoun to grammatical agreement marker: Why objects don’t make it. Folia Linguistica 33(2): 225-251.
Steward, Anne M
1988Switch-reference in Conchucos Quechua. In In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference on Native American Linguistics, William Shipley (ed.), 765-785. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Stirling, Lesley
1993Switch-Reference and Logophoricity in Discourse Representation Theory. Edinburgh: EUP.
Testelets, Yakov
2008Typology of anaphoric elements. Handout. [URL]
Thompson, Sandra A., Longacre, Robert E. & Hwang, Sin Ja
2007Adverbial clauses. In Shopen (ed.), 237-300.
Treis, Yvonne
2010Purpose-encoding strategies in Kambaata. Afrika und Übersee 91: 1-38.
Treis, Yvonne
2012Switch-reference and Omotic-Cushitic language contact in Southwest Ethiopia. Journal of Language Contact 5(1): 80-116.
Valenzuela, Pilar
2003Transitivity in Shipibo-Konibo Grammar: A Typologically Oriented Study. PhD dissertation, University of Oregon.
Van Valin, Robert D. & LaPolla, Randy J
1997Syntax: Structure, Meaning, and Function. Cambridge: CUP.
2014The multiple coreference in Ese Ejja subordinate clauses. In Information Structure and Reference Tracking in Complex Sentences [Typological Studies in Language 105], Rik van Gijn, Dejan Matić, Jeremy Hammond, Saskia van Putten & Ana Vilacy Galucio (eds.), 341-371. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Watanabe, Akira
2000Feature copying and binding: Evidence from complementizer agreement and switch reference. Syntax 3(3): 159-181.
Wacke, O
1931Formenlehre der Ono-Sprache. Zeitschrift für Eingeborenen-Sprachen 21: 161-208.
Waltz, Nathan
1976Discourse functions of Guanano sentence and paragraph. In Discourse Grammar: Studies in Indigenous Languages of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, Vol. 1, Robert E. Longacre & Frances M. Woods (eds), 21-145. Norman, OK: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Watkins, Laurel
1976The syntax and semantics of Kiowa switch-reference. In Proceedings of the 1976 Mid-America Linguistics Conference, Robert L. Brown, Kathleen Houlihan, Larry G. Hutchinson & Andrew McLeish (eds), 429-436. Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota.
Watkins, Laurel
1993The discourse function of Kiowa switch-reference. International Journal of American Linguistics 59(2): 137-164.
Weber, David J
1980Switch-reference: Quechua. In Munro (ed.), 48-64.
Wegener, Claudia
2012A Grammar of Savosavo. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Weisser, Philipp
2012Is there switch-reference marking in coordinated clauses? In Perspectives on Switch-reference: Local Modeling and Empirical Distribution, Philipp Weisser (ed.), 165-190. Leipzig: Institut für Linguistik.
Winter, W
1976Switch-reference in Yuman languages. In Hokan Studies, Margaret Langdon & Shirley Silver (eds), 165-174. The Hague: Mouton.
2021. Switch-reference and its role in referential choice in Mbyá Guaraní narratives. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 17:3 ► pp. 563 ff.
Walker, Neil Alexander
2022. Southern Pomo Switch-Reference and Its Origins within Pomoan. International Journal of American Linguistics 88:1 ► pp. 95 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.