Adverbial and Argument-Doubling Clauses in Cree - MSpace

that its value is not inherent in the semantic composition of the argument. Obviation is an
additional feature placed on a participant. The obviation status of a nominal will depend
on the lexical content of the rest of the sentence, or the speaker's discretion. No
constituent has an obviation feature pre-established in its lexical make-up."
It is the fact that this feature is not inherent in nominds and is open to change that
makes obviation such a usehl tool for analysing clause relations. In particular, the fact
that the option of changing obviation roles is consistently absent in specific syntactic
environments, but present in others, suggests a syntactic constraint that applies to certain
constructions. In Cree, the obviation status cannot be changed between a rnatrix verb and
a subordinate clause if the clause is an argument-doubling clause. However, if the
subordinate clause is an adverbial clause, then obviation roles may be changed. This
provides fùrther evidence that subordinate clauses have different syntactic relationships
with the rnatrix verbal complex.
In this chapter, we will begin with a description of obviation in Cree, and then
examine the phenornenon of proximate shifts. We wil! then examine both argumentdoubling
clauses and adverbial clauses to illustrate the syntactic restriction placed on interclausal
proximate shifts.
îhis d w not mean that r constituent's role in the sentence does not entail a partïnilar obviation status,
for example. any noun possessed by a third pemn must k obviative. Tbe point here is ihût no constituent
has an obviation feature establishd beforg it is placeci into a suitence. The feature value is determhed by
the qmtadsemantics cornprient of the gnmmar, and not by the lexicon.