Echo-subject in Southern Vanuatu versus switch-reference

In this talk we discuss the echo subject (ES) system in Whitesands, and contrast the ES system in Whitesands — and Vanuatu ES systems in general — with the better known New Guinean type of switch reference (SR) systems. Like other Southern Vanuatu languages, Whitesands has an ES marker. The ES marker m- is used instead of a normal subject prefix when the subject of a clause is coreferential with some reference(s) of the preceding clause. The antecedent is usually the subject, but it can also be the object, an oblique, or some combinations of these. Together with a brief survey of ES systems in other Vanuatu languages, we will conclude that the ES systems in Vanuatu are used solely for the syntacto-semantic function of reference tracking. This contrasts with the New Guinean type of SR systems, which is used for both reference tracking and the discourse function of indicating participant continuity versus discontinuity. For instance, the so-called ‘same subject’ or ‘coreferential’ marker, other than indicating that some reference is coreferential with another reference, also indicates that the ‘SR pivot’ is a salient participant, and that it will remain foregrounded, or reappear in the foreground sometime later in the discourse