In linguistics, logophoricity is a kind of coreferential

Coreference

In linguistics, co-reference occurs when multiple expressions in a sentence or document refer to the same thing; or in linguistic jargon, they have the same "referent."...

 anaphora

Anaphora (linguistics)

In linguistics, anaphora is an instance of an expression referring to another. Usually, an anaphoric expression is represented by a pro-form or some other kind of deictic--for instance, a pronoun referring to its antecedent...

, where the third-person subject

Subject (grammar)

The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...

 of a dependent clause

Dependent clause

In linguistics, a dependent clause is a clause that augments an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses modify the independent clause of a sentence or serve as a component of it...

 is marked as identical to the subject of the main clause. Logophoric systems are frequently restricted to indirect speech

Indirect speech

In grammar, indirect or reported speech is a way of reporting a statement or question. A reported question is called an indirect question. Unlike direct speech, indirect speech does not phrase the statement or question the way the original speaker did; instead, certain grammatical categories are...

.

Logophoric pronoun

Pronoun

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...

s are common in the languages of West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

. In Ewe

Ewe language

Ewe is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin by approximately six million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe, spoken in southeastern Ghana, Togo, and parts of Benin. Other Gbe languages include Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and Aja...

, for example, they are used to show that the subject in reported speech or thought is the same as the person doing the speaking or thinking. In English, such sentences as "he thought that he went" are ambiguous, as it is not clear whether the two instances of "he" are the same person; Ewe, in contrast, has different words for "he", yɛ and e, to distinguish these two meanings:

Logophoric coreference: Kofi be yɛ-dzo "Kofi said s/he (Kofi) left." (special logophoric pronoun: e-be yɛ-dzo)

Unmarked switch reference: Kofi be e-dzo "Kofi said s/he (someone else) left." (usual pronoun: e-be e-dzo)

Mabaan

Mabaan language

Mabaan, or Southern Burun, is a Luo language of South Sudan. It forms a dialect continuum with Burun....

, a Luo language

Luo languages

The Nilotic Luo languages, or Lwoian, are a dozen languages spoken by the Luo peoples in an area ranging from southern Sudan via Uganda to southern Kenya, with Dholuo extending into northern Tanzania and Alur into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They form one of the two branches of Western...

 of Sudan, has the opposite system, where the usual pronoun indicates coreference, and a special 'anti-logophoric' pronoun indicates switch reference:

Unmarked coreference: ʔɛ́kɛ̀ ɡɔ́kè ʔáɡē ʔɛ́kɛ̀ kâɲɟɛ́ "He said that he (himself) will.swim" (usual pronoun)

Anti-logophoric switch reference: ʔɛ́kɛ̀ ɡɔ́kè ʔáɡē ʔɛ̂ktá kâɲɟɛ́ "He said that he (other) will.swim" (special pronoun)

The Chadic language Mupun of Nigeria has one of the most elaborate systems known, with separate object forms and logophoricity for the addressee as well as the speaker:

wu he, wa she, mo they: subject of main clause, incl. speaker; non-coreferential subject of dependent clause

wur him, war her: object of main clause, incl. addressee; object of dependent clause non-coreferential to speaker; subject of dependent clause non-coreferetial to addressee

ɗɪ he, ɗe she, ɗu they: subject of dependent clause coreferential to speaker (logophoric subject)

ɗin him, ɗe her: object of dependent clause coreferential to speaker (logophoric object)

gwar he/she: subject of dependent clause, coreferential to addressee (object-subject logophore)

For example (Heine & Nurse 2008:145):

(sat to say; nə that; ta ɗee to stop by, nas to beat; ji to come)

• Wu sat nə wu ta ɗee n-Jos

He said that he (other) stopped over in Jos

• Wu sat nə n-nas wur

He said that I beat him (other)

• N-sat n-wur nə wur ji

I told him that he (other) should come

• Wu sat nə ta ɗɪ ɗee n-Jos

He said that he (himself) stopped over in Jos

• Wu sat nə n-nas ɗin

He said that I beat him (himself)

• N-sat n-wur nə gwar ji

I told him that he (himself) should come