Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Reference Clause

Definition: 

Here are two senses of a reference clause:

  1. A reference clause is a clause with an argument that, in a marking clause elsewhere in the sentence, is signaled as being coreferential or not to the argument of the marking clause.
  2. In a language having a switch reference system, a reference clause is a clause with an argument, which is typically the subject.
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