The Multifunctionality of Anaphoric Expressions: A typological perspective

Abstract

This paper begins by surveying data from discourse analytic and psycholinguistic studies of a wide range of languages which offer support for the hypothesis that anaphoric expressions may function to indicate discourse boundaries in addition to having a reference tracking role. Thus the structure of the discourse is inherently important in considering the functioning of anaphoric systems. Fox's principle of morphosyntactic markedness is invoked to account for this aspect of the multifunctionality of anaphoric expressions. The paper then extends the argument to show that non-nominal reference tracking systems may also obey this principle, on the basis of the examination of cross-linguistic data from switch-reference systems which indicates that so-called 'Different Subject' markers often function to indicate a break in the discourse rather than simply a change in subject referent. The paper concludes by raising some issues for further consideration.