Obviation
(intro)
From the Nouns article
This information has been taken from the ==Obviation== section of the Nouns article. It is no longer present there.
Mi'gmaq is a language with a feature called obviation. (The wiki will also address it as it applies to verbs, so check that part out too!) Obviation is a way of differentiating between third persons. The usual set of persons is first (in English "me/we"), second ("you"), and third ("him/her/them"). Obviation makes a "closer to speakers" third person (often called proximate) which contrasts with a "further from speakers" third person (often called obviate). (Payne 1997: 212)
In Mi'gmaq, the obviate is generally marked with the suffix -l, or -tl, though variation does apply. Though the circumstances of its appearance vary depending on the context of your conversation, there are certain words where it is guaranteed to appear.
For instance, "his/her friend" is always going to be marked as obviate because in that situation, there are two "third persons": the him/her in question, and then the friend. The friend is more "distant" from the discourse, so it will appear as below, with the obviate marker on the end:
w-itap-al 3-friend-OBV
'his/her friend'
From the Verbs article
Nothing was written in the Verbs article about obviation