
Conlangery #33: Suprasegmentals
Conlangery Podcast
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The Switch Reference System in English
In a switch reference system, your often conjunctions code whether the subject is the same as the previous clause or different from the previous clause. And switch reference systems occur all over the world. In the case of Kamakawi, he has the past versus non-past marking encode a switchreference system that makes three distinctions. The man walked into the barn and got kicked by a horse. Same subject. Brand new subject. New subject from old non-subject. I saw the man and he talked to me,. He talked to me would involve a switch reference because what was the direct object of the previous clause is now the subject of this clause.
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