This thesis presents a comparative typological study of twelve languages, with varying degrees of geographical and genealogical distance. The system of Reference Tracking of each of these languages...Show moreThis thesis presents a comparative typological study of twelve languages, with varying degrees of geographical and genealogical distance. The system of Reference Tracking of each of these languages is detailed and, in the conclusion, compared to the other systems, with the purpose of finding relevant similarities. Moreover, the aim is to corroborate the findings of this thesis with those of previously established works (cf. Haiman & Munro 1983, Foley & Van Valin 1985, Stirling 1993). The languages are sorted by their types of system, which are Agreement, Switch Reference or neither of the aforementioned. All the languages used in this thesis were chosen for their intricate systems of reference tracking, and for the geographical and genealogical distance between them. Each language is treated a small case study. First, the status of the language is established. This is followed by a detailed description of the workings of the reference tracking system of that language. Finally, all systems are compared to one another and all notable similarities are given. The end of the thesis consists of the conclusions I have drawn from these comparisons.Show less
