Adverbial and Argument-Doubling Clauses in Cree - MSpace

younger sister, is proximate. This can be seen by the unmarked fonn of the noun nisiWs
'my younger sister' (as opposed to a marked, obviative fom) and the proximate
morphology on the TA verb ê-ki-pinrisimihl 'she(prox) was made to lie down.'
(72) Plains Cree
tâpwê piko wiy âwa nisîmis awa, Npêwinihk
truly surely she this 1-yngr sister this, bed-loc
ê-ki-pimisimiht,. . .
cj-pst-make.s.o.lie.down.TA-(indf-3)
'And as soon as my little sister(prox) had been put to bed,. . .@car el al., 1992: 136)
A further restriction on the distribution of proximate and obviative roles occurs
with relative clauses. The obviation status of the head of a relative clause must be the
same in the matrix and the dependent clause (cf Dahlstrorn (1990: 103) and Dryer
( 1992: 141)). Example (73) illustrates this restriction.
(73) àhci pikoh yêhyêw awa [ayahciyiniwah ostikwânihk kâ-piskisokot].
still breathe. AI3 this-3 Blackfoot-3' 3-head-loc cj-shoot.TA-(3'93)
'He (prox) [who had been shot in the head by the Blackfoot (obv)] was still
breathing. '
(P:90-11)
The proximate participant in (73) is indicated to be the subject in the main clause
AI verb, y2hyêw 'he(prox) breathes'. The agreement rnorphology for singular proximate
subject is bolded on the verb. The proximate stanis of this participant is maintaimd in the
relative clause. The subordinate verb b-pE~kJs~kor '(that) he/they(obv) had shot
him(prox)' in the relative clause is inflected for an obviative actor and a proximate patient.
The verb contains an inverse rnarker, which indicates that a participant lower on the