The Relation of Switch-Reference, Animacy, and Obviation in Plains Cree

Abstract

This paper offers a novel approach to the classical referential categories described for Plains Cree (Algonquian), paying particular attention to the notions of “animate obviative” and “inanimate obviative.” Based on the asymmetric morphological expression of these two proposed categories, I argue that the term “obviative” ought not to be applied equally to animate and inanimate, and that the grammatical category “inanimate obviative” is not relevant for Plains Cree. A compositional approach is developed instead, which demonstrates that the semantic and syntactic properties of “obviative” are predictable from the properties of the elements that construct them. So the grammatical category “obviative” is a property of constructions but not of particular morphosyntactic elements. I then consider the typological implications of this discussion, both for Algonquian and cross-linguistically.