Reference-tracking: Description and explanation

Various typologically recurrent properties of reference-tracking systems can be given a coherent explanatory account in terms of functional, rather than formal criteria. Two principles in particular are proposed, namely that coreference is more likely to be marked than non-coreference in local domains (e.g. the arguments of a single predicate), whereas non-coreference is more likely to be marked than coreference in extended domains (e.g. across clause boundaries). For the former principle a cognitive explanation is proposed, while it is suggested that the latter principle has a discourse basis.