Editing Cheyenne language (section)

====Obviation====
When two third persons are referred to by the same verb, the object of the sentence becomes obviated, what Algonquianists refer to as a "fourth person."{{sfn|Leman|2011|p=21}} It is essentially an "out of focus" third person.{{sfn|Leman|2011|p=11}} As with possessive obviation above, the presence of a fourth person triggers morphological changes in both the verb and noun.  If the obviated entity is an animate noun, it will be marked with an obviative suffix, typically {{Lang|chy|-o}} or {{Lang|chy|-óho}}.  For example:

*{{Lang|chy|návóómo hetane}}&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  'I saw a man'
*{{Lang|chy|he'e évôomóho hetanóho}}&nbsp; 'The woman saw a man'

Verbs register the presence of obviated participants whether or not they are present as nouns.  These forms could be likened to a kind of [[passive voice]], although Esteban (2012) argues that since Cheyenne is a "reference-dominated language where case marking and word order are governed by the necessity to code pragmatic roles," a passive-like construction is assumed.{{sfn|Corral Esteban|2012|p=93}} This phenomenon is an example of typical Algonquian "person hierarchy," in which animacy and first personhood take precedence over other forms.{{sfn|Leman|2011|p=22}}