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class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Geography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Geography</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Geography-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Geography subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Geography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-North_America" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#North_America"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>North America</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-North_America-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Africa" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Africa"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Africa</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Africa-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Eurasia" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Eurasia"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Eurasia</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Eurasia-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Cross-linguistic_patterns" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Cross-linguistic_patterns"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Cross-linguistic patterns</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Cross-linguistic_patterns-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Examples" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Examples"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Examples</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Examples-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Examples subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Examples-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Ojibwe" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ojibwe"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Ojibwe</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ojibwe-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Potawatomi" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Potawatomi"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Potawatomi</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Potawatomi-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ingush" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ingush"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.3</span> <span>Ingush</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ingush-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet 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title="Obviación – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Obviación" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obviation" title="Obviation – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Obviation" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lfn mw-list-item"><a href="https://lfn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_periferal" title="Person periferal – Lingua Franca Nova" lang="lfn" hreflang="lfn" data-title="Person periferal" data-language-autonym="Lingua Franca Nova" data-language-local-name="Lingua Franca Nova" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lingua Franca Nova</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2" title="Обвиатив – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Обвиатив" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q3348541#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a 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<div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q3348541" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" 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class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Distinction between third person pronouns</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p><p>Within <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, <b>obviative</b> (<a href="/wiki/List_of_glossing_abbreviations" title="List of glossing abbreviations">abbreviated</a> <span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;"><b>OBV</b></span></span>) third person is a <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">grammatical-person</a> marking that distinguishes a <a href="/wiki/Referent" title="Referent">referent</a> that is less important to the discourse from one that is more important (<b>proximate</b>). The obviative is sometimes referred to as the "fourth person".<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Comparison_with_other_grammatical-person_marking_systems">Comparison with other grammatical-person marking systems</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Comparison with other grammatical-person marking systems"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a> and many other <a href="/wiki/European_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="European languages">European languages</a>, the principal means of distinguishing between multiple third-person referents is using gender or (lack of) reflexive. Thus, in "she saw him", it is clear that there are two third persons because they are of different genders. In "she saw her", it is clear that there are two third persons because otherwise, one would say "she saw herself". However, "she saw her mother" is ambiguous: it could mean that she saw her own mother or that she saw someone else's mother.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This is because it is not clear, in some contexts, if "she" and "her" refer to the same person. </p><p>An obviative/proximate system has a different way of distinguishing between multiple third-person referents. When there is more than one third person named in a sentence or discourse context, the most important, salient, or topical is marked as "proximate" and any other, less salient entities are marked as "obviative". Subsequent sentences that refer to previously-named entities with pronouns or verbal inflections can then use the proximate and obviative references that have already been established to distinguish between the two.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>For example, in the sentence "<a href="/wiki/The_quick_brown_fox_jumps_over_the_lazy_dog" title="The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog">the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</a>", there are two third-person referents, the fox and the dog. Thus, one of them has to be proximate and the other one has to be obviative, depending on which one the speaker considers more central to the story. If the fox is the more important one, the sentence might look something like "the quick brown fox-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span> jumps-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX>OBV</span></span> the lazy dog-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</span></span>", where <span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX>OBV</span></span> is verbal inflection indicating a proximate subject acting on an obviative object. In that case, a subsequent sentence "and then <span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span> went-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span> away" would mean that the <i>fox</i> went away. </p><p>On the other hand, if the dog is the more important one, the sentence might look something like "the quick brown fox-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</span></span> jumps-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV>PROX</span></span> the lazy dog-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span>", where <span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV>PROX</span></span> is verbal inflection indicating an obviative subject acting on a proximate object. In that case, the same subsequent sentence "and then <span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span> went-<span class="smallcaps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</span></span> away" would mean instead that the <i>dog</i> went away. By contrast, an equivalent subsequent sentence in English, such as "and then he went away", would not necessarily indicate whether "he" is the fox or the dog. </p><p>An analogy that has been used to explain obviation is that the proximate is the entity in the "spotlight", and any other, obviative entities are out of the spotlight or "hangers-on".<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Geography">Geography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Geography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="North_America">North America</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: North America"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Obviate/proximate distinctions are common in some indigenous language families in northern <a href="/wiki/North_America" title="North America">North America</a>. <a href="/wiki/Algonquian_languages" title="Algonquian languages">Algonquian languages</a> are perhaps best known for obviation, but the feature occurs also in some <a href="/wiki/Salishan_languages" title="Salishan languages">Salishan languages</a> and in the <a href="/wiki/Language_isolate" title="Language isolate">language isolate</a> <a href="/wiki/Kutenai_language" title="Kutenai language">Kutenai</a> as well as in the more southern <a href="/wiki/Keresan_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Keresan languages">Keresan languages</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Mithun_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mithun-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Africa">Africa</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Africa"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Obviative markers are used in <a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a> in some <a href="/wiki/Nilo-Saharan" class="mw-redirect" title="Nilo-Saharan">Nilo-Saharan</a> and <a href="/wiki/Niger%E2%80%93Congo" class="mw-redirect" title="Niger–Congo">Niger–Congo</a> languages.<sup id="cite_ref-Gregsen_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gregsen-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Eurasia">Eurasia</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Eurasia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Obviation has also been attested in the <a href="/wiki/Northeast_Caucasian_languages" title="Northeast Caucasian languages">Northeast Caucasian</a> <a href="/wiki/Ingush_language" title="Ingush language">Ingush language</a> in <a href="/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Ingrush_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ingrush-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Cross-linguistic_patterns">Cross-linguistic patterns</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Cross-linguistic patterns"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>If animacy is involved, animate <a href="/wiki/Noun_phrase" title="Noun phrase">noun phrases</a> tend to be proximate, and inanimate <a href="/wiki/Noun_phrases" class="mw-redirect" title="Noun phrases">noun phrases</a> tend to be obviative.</li> <li>Possessors are frequently required to be proximate, with possessees thus required to be obviative.</li> <li>Obviation is most common in <a href="/wiki/Head-marking_language" title="Head-marking language">head-marking languages</a> since the obviative is useful in disambiguating otherwise unmarked nominals.<sup id="cite_ref-Ingrush_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ingrush-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>The obviative referent seems to be always the marked form, and the proximate is unmarked.</li> <li>Obviative marking tends to apply only to the third person, but it has been attested in the second person in a handful of <a href="/wiki/Nilo-Saharan_languages" title="Nilo-Saharan languages">Nilo-Saharan languages</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Gregsen_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gregsen-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Proximate/obviative assignments are preserved throughout the clauses and are also often constant over longer discourse segments.<sup id="cite_ref-Mithun_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mithun-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Examples"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ojibwe">Ojibwe</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Ojibwe"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The following is a typical example of obviate/proximate morphology in the Eastern dialect of the Algonquian <a href="/wiki/Ojibwe_language" title="Ojibwe language">Ojibwe</a> in which the obviative is marked on <a href="/wiki/Nouns" class="mw-redirect" title="Nouns">nouns</a> and <a href="/wiki/Demonstratives" class="mw-redirect" title="Demonstratives">demonstratives</a> and reflected in pronominal verb affixes: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1209690778">.mw-parser-output .interlinear .bold{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .interlinear .smallcaps{text-transform:uppercase;font-size:smaller}</style><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:2em"><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Maaba</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Maabamh</p><p style="margin: 0px;">maabam[h]</p><p style="margin: 0px;">this</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">dash</p><p style="margin: 0px;">idash</p><p style="margin: 0px;">idash</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="emphatic" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">EMP</abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">shkinwe</p><p style="margin: 0px;">oshkinawe</p><p style="margin: 0px;">oshkinawe</p><p style="margin: 0px;">young.man</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">wgii‒bwaadaa[<u><i>n</i></u>]</p><p style="margin: 0px;">ogii‒bawaadaa<u>n</u>h</p><p style="margin: 0px;">o=gii‒bawaad=am=<u>in</u>[h]</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">3</a></abbr>=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="past tense" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Past_tense" title="Past tense">PAST</a></abbr>-dream=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">3</a></abbr>.<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="inanimate gender" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Inanimate_gender" class="mw-redirect" title="Inanimate gender">INAN</a></abbr>=<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">OBV</a></abbr></u></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">wii‒bi‒yaa<u>n</u>id</p><p style="margin: 0px;">wii‒bi‒ayaa<u>n</u>id</p><p style="margin: 0px;">wii‒bi‒ayaa=<u>in</u>=id</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="future tense" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Future_tense" title="Future tense">FUT</a></abbr>-coming-be.at=<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">OBV</a></abbr></u>=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">3</a></abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">myagi‒nishnaabe<u>n</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">mayagi‒anishinaabe<u>n</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">mayagi‒anishinaabe=<u>an</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">foreign-people=<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">OBV</a></abbr></u></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="oj" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">waa‒bi‒nsigwaaj<u>in</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">waa‒bi‒nisigowaaj<u>in</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><i>X</i>=wii‒bi‒niS=igo=waa=id=<u>in</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="relative(izer)" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Relativizer" title="Relativizer">REL</a></abbr>=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="future tense" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Future_tense" title="Future tense">FUT</a></abbr>-coming-kill=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="inverse" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Inversion_(linguistics)" title="Inversion (linguistics)">INV</a></abbr>=<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_person" title="Grammatical person">3</a></abbr>=<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">OBV</a></abbr></u></p></div><p style="display: none;">Maaba dash shkinwe wgii‒bwaadaa[<u><i>n</i></u>] wii‒bi‒yaa<u>n</u>id myagi‒nishnaabe<u>n</u> waa‒bi‒nsigwaaj<u>in</u></p><p style="display: none;">Maabamh idash oshkinawe ogii‒bawaadaa<u>n</u>h wii‒bi‒ayaa<u>n</u>id mayagi‒anishinaabe<u>n</u> waa‒bi‒nisigowaaj<u>in</u></p><p style="display: none;">maabam[h] idash oshkinawe o=gii‒bawaad=am=<u>in</u>[h] wii‒bi‒ayaa=<u>in</u>=id mayagi‒anishinaabe=<u>an</u> <i>X</i>=wii‒bi‒niS=igo=waa=id=<u>in</u></p><p style="display: none;">this EMP young.man 3=PAST-dream=3.INAN=<u>OBV</u> FUT-coming-be.at=<u>OBV</u>=3 foreign-people=<u>OBV</u> REL=FUT-coming-kill=INV=3=<u>OBV</u></p><p style="clear: left;">'Then this (<abbr class="gloss-abbr gloss-abbr-ambiguous" title="proximate" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</abbr>) young man (<abbr class="gloss-abbr gloss-abbr-ambiguous" title="proximate" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</abbr>) dreamed (<abbr class="gloss-abbr gloss-abbr-ambiguous" title="proximate" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</abbr>) that foreigners (<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr>) would come (<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr>) to kill (<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr>) them (<abbr class="gloss-abbr gloss-abbr-ambiguous" title="proximate" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">PROX</abbr>).'</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <p>That example shows that the proximate referent need not necessarily be the subject of a clause.<sup id="cite_ref-Mithun_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mithun-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Potawatomi">Potawatomi</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Potawatomi"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Potawatomi_language" title="Potawatomi language">Potawatomi</a> (an Algonquian Language) is notable for having two degrees of obviation, "obviation" and "further obviation." "Further obviation" is rare, but when it occurs, a "further obviative" referent, deemed to be even less salient than the obviative referent, can be marked by an additional obviative suffix. The following is the sole example to appear in the literature on Potawatomi: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:2em"><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="pot" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">ktokmamnannun</p><p style="margin: 0px;">[gdogmamnannën (g[i]doog[i]maam[i]naan[i]nan)]</p><p style="margin: 0px;">[g[i]do=og[i]maa=m=[i]naan‒[i]n‒an]</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p style="margin: 0px;"><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p></div><p style="display: none;">ktokmamnannun</p><p style="display: none;">{[gdogmamnannën (g[i]doog[i]maam[i]naan[i]nan)]}</p><p style="display: none;">[g[i]do=og[i]maa=m=[i]naan‒[i]n‒an]</p><p style="clear: left;">our (12) chief(s) (3″)</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <p>Charles Hockett<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> posited the following example, but he never checked it to see if it was grammatical: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:2em"><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 3em;"><p lang="pot" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">waposo</p><p style="margin: 0px;">rabbit</p><p style="margin: 0px;">proximate</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 3em;"><p lang="pot" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">waposo‒<u>n</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">rabbit‒<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr></u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">obviative</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 3em;"><p lang="pot" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">waposo‒<u>n</u>‒u<u>n</u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">rabbit‒<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr></u>‒<u><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="obviative" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">OBV</abbr></u></p><p style="margin: 0px;">further obviative</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 3em;"><p style="margin: 0px;"><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p></div><p style="display: none;">waposo waposo‒<u>n</u> waposo‒<u>n</u>‒u<u>n</u></p><p style="display: none;">rabbit rabbit‒<u>OBV</u> rabbit‒<u>OBV</u>‒<u>OBV</u></p><p style="display: none;">proximate obviative {further obviative}</p><p class="mw-empty-elt"></p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ingush">Ingush</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Ingush"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Obviation in <a href="/wiki/Ingush_language" title="Ingush language">Ingush</a>, a heavily <a href="/wiki/Dependent-marking_language" title="Dependent-marking language">dependent-marking language</a>, is an exception to the generalization that the obviative occurs in <a href="/wiki/Head-marking_language" title="Head-marking language">head-marking languages</a>. Obviation is not overtly marked in Ingush but is implied, as certain constructions are impossible unless one referent has salience over another. </p><p>For example, if a non-subject-referent has salience over the subject and precedes the other co-referent, reflexivisation (normally used only when there is a coreferent to the subject) is possible. That is shown in the example below whose non-subject-referent appears to have salience over the subject: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:2em"><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Muusaajna</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Musa-<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="dative case" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Dative_case" title="Dative case">DAT</a></abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">shii</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="third person, singular" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;">3S</abbr>-<abbr class="gloss-abbr gloss-abbr-ambiguous" title="reflexive" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Reflexive_pronoun" title="Reflexive pronoun">REFL</a></abbr>-<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="genitive case" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Genitive_case" title="Genitive case">GEN</a></abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">zhwalii</p><p style="margin: 0px;">dog</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">t'y-weaxar</p><p style="margin: 0px;">on-bark-<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="evidentiality" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">WITNESSED</a></abbr> <abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="past tense" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Past_tense" title="Past tense">PAST</a></abbr></p></div><p style="display: none;">Muusaajna shii zhwalii t'y-weaxar</p><p style="display: none;">Musa-DAT 3S-REFL-GEN dog {on-bark-<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="evidentiality" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Evidentiality" title="Evidentiality">WITNESSED</a></abbr> PAST}</p><p style="clear: left;">'Musa's dog barked at him.'</p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <p>If the subject is salient ("proximate"), on the other hand, the subject's possessor does not antecede the third-person object, and the possession must be indirectly implicated as follows: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1209690778"><div class="interlinear" style="margin-left:2em"><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">Muusaa</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Musa</p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">siesaguo</p><p style="margin: 0px;">wife-<abbr class="gloss-abbr" title="ergative case" style="font-variant: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; text-transform: lowercase;"><a href="/wiki/Ergative_case" title="Ergative case">ERG</a></abbr></p></div><div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.3em;margin-right: 1em;"><p lang="inh" style="margin: 0px;font-style: italic;">liex</p><p style="margin: 0px;">seek</p></div><p style="display: none;">Muusaa siesaguo liex</p><p style="display: none;">Musa wife-ERG seek</p><p style="clear: left;">'Musa's wife is looking for him.' (Literally, 'The wife is looking for Musa.')<sup id="cite_ref-Ingrush_6-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ingrush-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><div style="clear: left; display: block;"></div> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Direct%E2%80%93inverse_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Direct–inverse language">Direct–inverse language</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFKibort2008" class="citation web cs1">Kibort, Anna (7 January 2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.grammaticalfeatures.net/features/person.html">"Person"</a>. <i>Grammatical Features</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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"On the syntax of obviation". <i>Language</i>. <b>73</b> (4): 705–750. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1353%2Flan.1997.0042">10.1353/lan.1997.0042</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Language&rft.atitle=On+the+syntax+of+obviation&rft.volume=73&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=705-750&rft.date=1997&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1353%2Flan.1997.0042&rft.aulast=Aissen&rft.aufirst=Judith&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AObviative" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Obviative&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.conormquinn.com/RALC2006.pdf">Obviation explained with a "spotlighting" analogy (starting on page 5, section 3)</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wiki.migmaq.org/index.php?title=Obviation">Obviation in Mi'gmaq</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/1054/how-exactly-does-an-obviate-proximate-system-work">How exactly does an obviative proximate system work?</a></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Obviative&oldid=1243975362">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Obviative&oldid=1243975362</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Category</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Grammatical_categories" title="Category:Grammatical categories">Grammatical categories</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_dmy_dates_from_September_2024" title="Category:Use dmy dates from September 2024">Use dmy dates from September 2024</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_with_interlinear_glosses_using_more_than_three_unnamed_parameters" title="Category:Pages with interlinear glosses using more than three unnamed parameters">Pages with interlinear glosses using more than three unnamed parameters</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_ambiguous_glossing_abbreviations" title="Category:Articles with ambiguous glossing abbreviations">Articles with ambiguous glossing abbreviations</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 4 September 2024, at 11:45<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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