I was reading on articles discussing verb-markings when I learned a new term: Obviative.
There are not many languages that use the Obviative but this feature has been attested in a few African languages, a Eurasian language, and today’s discussion: Arapaho, an Algonquian language and people in Wyoming and Oklahoma
To review, let’s use English pronouns as our basis.
1st Person is I/we: I can see the dog.
2nd Person is You: You can see the dog.
3rd Person is He/She/It/They: He/she/it/they can see the dog.
While these pronouns are generally very helpful in identifying who the speaker(s), listener(s), and relevant parties are in a conversation, sometimes we run into situations like:
“He can see his father.” There is no way to know whether ‘his father’ refers to the speaker’s father or some other person’s father.
In Arapaho, they have the ability to use the 4th person. In their discourse with others, they can express whether something is proximate (more important) or obviate (less important). In Arapaho, they have different verb endings to indicate this feature (Salzman, 1967).
| ceebíseet | He is walking. |
| ceebíseení3 | The other one is walking. |
I had such a great time learning this feature, but I also had an eye-opening time when reading the history of the Arapaho people as well as the history of Native Americans in general. Please refer to the links below for further reading!
References:
Regents of the University of Colorado CLASP Program. (n.d.). Arapaho Language Project. The Arapaho Language Project. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://verbs.colorado.edu/ArapahoLanguageProject/index.html
Salzmann, Z. (1967). Arapaho VII: Verb. International Journal of American Linguistics, 33(3), 209–223. https://doi.org/10.1086/464963
Weiser, K. W. (2019, October). Arapaho – Great Buffalo Hunters of the Plains – Legends of America. Legends of America. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-arapaho/
Carleon Mendoza 
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