Reflexive constructions in Warlpiri

Warlpiri is an Australian language which belongs to the Ngumpin-Yapa subgroup of Pama-Nyungan. Coreference between the subject and another argument of a finite clause -- object or applicative -- is marked by an anaphoric clitic in the auxiliary complex substituted for the person/number and case-marking clitic that would mark features of the corresponding non-subject argument disjoint in reference with the subject. Evidence that reflexive clauses with transitive verbs maintain their transitivity includes ergative case-marking of subject NP and the association of a part NP with the non-subject role. Formally similar pseudo-transitive reflexive clauses which express a change of state in a single argument are shown to be limited to situations in which the internal state of a being is altered by some external situation beyond that being's control. The role of the anaphor within complex NPs is compared with its role within the finite clause. Within a finite clause a strict coreference relation is limited to that between the subject and the non-subject role represented by the anaphor. Strict coreference between an argument of a matrix finite clause and an argument within a non-finite clause embedded within the finite clause is limited to the phonologically null subject of the non-finite clause. Given the lack of an anaphor in non-finite clauses, strict coreference between subject and object cannot be expressed. Where coreference is possible between an NP external to a non-finite clause and a pronoun internal to it, a disjoint reading is always available