The Fourth Person: Obviation Explained

Imagine reading this sentence: “Sarah told Maria about the meeting, but she was worried.” Who was worried? Sarah, the one speaking? Or Maria, the one listening? In English, the sentence is ambiguous. We rely on context, intuition, or just asking for clarification. It’s a small, everyday stumble in our language. But what if a language had a built-in grammatical tool specifically designed to prevent this kind of confusion?

Welcome to the world of obviation, a fascinating feature of Algonquian languages (like Cree, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi) that introduces a concept often called the “fourth person.” This clever system is a masterclass in narrative clarity, ensuring that listeners always know who’s who in a story, no matter how many characters are involved.

What is a “Fourth Person”?

First, let’s clear up a potential misconception. A “fourth person” isn’t a new character from another dimension. It’s a grammatical way of ranking third-person participants in a conversation or story. English has one third person (he, she, it, they). Algonquian languages split the third person into two categories:

• The Proximate: This is the main character, the central focus of the sentence or discourse. You can think of them as the protagonist or the point-of-view character. This is the “third person.”
• The Obviative: This refers to any other third-person character who is less central to the story at that moment. They are the secondary character, the supporting actor. This is the “fourth person.”

Essentially, whenever you have more than one third-person entity in a sentence, one is marked as the “main one” (proximate) and the other is demoted to “the other one” (obviative). This isn’t a judgment on the character’s overall importance in the story, but rather a snapshot of their role in that specific moment of the narrative.

Putting Obviation into Practice: Proximate vs. Obviative

So, how does this work in a real sentence? The magic lies in grammatical marking. Nouns, pronouns, and even verbs change their form to show whether they are proximate or obviative. This creates an unbreakable link between a character and their actions.

Let’s look at an example from Potawatomi, an Algonquian language. Consider a simple scenario: “A bear saw its son.”

Mko wabdan okwəsən.
“The bear saw his son.”

In this sentence:

• Mko (“bear”) is the proximate. It’s the central character, the subject.
• okwəsən (“his son”) is the obviative. It’s the secondary character, the object. The -ən suffix is the obviative marker.
• The verb wabdan (“he/she-sees-it”) is structured to show that a proximate subject is acting on an obviative object.

The grammar clearly states: The main character (bear) saw the secondary character (son). There is zero ambiguity. Now, what if the son saw the bear? The sentence structure flips:

Mkon wapdann okwəs.
“His son saw the bear.”

Here, the roles are reversed:

• Okwəs (“his son”) is now the proximate subject.
• Mkon (“bear”) is now the obviative object, marked with the -ən suffix.
• The verb form also changes to reflect this switch.

The grammatical marking acts like a spotlight, instantly telling you who is at the center of the action and who is peripheral to it. The “fourth person” (obviative) is whoever is not in the spotlight.

The Narrative Power of Obviation

This system truly shines in longer, more complex narratives. Let’s return to our original ambiguous English sentence: “Sarah told Maria about the meeting, but she was worried.”

An Algonquian language would force the speaker to choose a point of view.

Scenario 1: Sarah is the focus.
Sarah would be marked as proximate, and Maria as obviative. The verb “was worried” would be conjugated for the proximate person. The listener would know instantly that Sarah was the one who was worried.

“Sarah-PROX told Maria-OBV… and she-PROX was worried.”

Scenario 2: Maria is the focus.
If the story was really about Maria’s reaction, she would be marked as proximate and Sarah as obviative. The verb “was worried” would then refer to Maria.

“Sarah-OBV told Maria-PROX… and she-PROX was worried.”

Obviation allows storytellers to weave tales with multiple characters without constantly repeating names. As long as you track who is proximate, you can follow long chains of “he did this” and “then he said that” with perfect clarity. The proximate character can remain the same for several sentences or even paragraphs, creating a strong, consistent narrative focus. When the storyteller is ready to shift perspective, they simply switch the proximate and obviative roles, signaling to the audience that the spotlight has moved to a new character.

Beyond Two Characters: Double Obviation

The system is even more robust than this. What happens when a third character enters the scene? Many Algonquian languages can handle this with a “further obviative” or “second obviative.”

Imagine: “The man (proximate) saw his friend’s (obviative) dog (further obviative).”

Each noun would be marked differently to show its place in the pecking order: man is #1 (proximate), friend is #2 (obviative), and the dog is #3 (further obviative). This creates a clear referential hierarchy, allowing for incredibly detailed and precise descriptions involving multiple parties without tripping up the listener.

A Frame of Mind, Not Just Grammar

The concept of obviation reveals something profound about language: it not only describes the world but also structures our attention within it. For speakers of Algonquian languages, this constant ranking of participants isn’t a tedious grammatical chore; it’s an automatic and intuitive part of communication.

While English speakers get by using pronouns, context, and repetition, obviation offers a glimpse into a different way of organizing information. It’s an elegant, efficient, and powerful tool that prioritizes clarity above all else. The next time you stumble over a “he” or “she” in a confusing sentence, take a moment to appreciate the languages that have a built-in solution—the clever and fascinating “fourth person.”