Chapter 80The ko- Applicative

80.1 Directed relations

Applicative ko- introduces an object related to the action as a goal, addressee, beneficiary, or other participant. Nakagawa groups its uses broadly into directed relations, often translated “toward” or “to,” and comitative relations translated “together with” Nakagawa (2024: 196–197). Bugaeva's finer classification also includes malefactive, recipient and source relations Bugaeva (2006: 190, table 2).

The goal need not be a person. The same prefix occurs with returning to a castle:

Nakagawa contrasts this pattern with the place-expression requirements of o-. He rejects an inserted or in his corresponding castle example Nakagawa (2024: 197, example 185′). That judgment concerns the particular construction; it is not a ban on location nouns throughout directed expressions.

80.2 Addressees and other participants

Bugaeva contrasts ko-yayirayke “be grateful to someone” with e-yayirayke “be grateful for something.” Her Chitose examples assign the applied objects Addressee and Content roles respectively Bugaeva (2006: 188, example 2). The choice reflects the relation to the predicate, not merely the English preposition used in one translation.

With an already transitive base, another object can remain. Bugaeva gives soso → ko-soso, “take something off → take something off someone,” where the added object is the source Bugaeva (2006: 188, example 3a). Her dictionary-based sample distributes ko- across Addressee, Goal, Comitative and Benefactive in similar proportions, alongside smaller categories Bugaeva (2006: 190, table 2). This is a lexical classification, with overlapping relations across the three applicative prefixes.

80.3 Comitative objects and incorporation

Nakagawa derives three-place ko-tata “chop something together with something” from transitive tata. He describes comitative ko- as more restricted than the directed type, often occurring in fixed expressions and with an incorporated object Nakagawa (2024: 197, examples 189–191).

Incorporation supplies the comitative object internally. The flesh remains an object, so the resulting verbs are still two-place and take A marking. The derivation illustrates three-place to two-place reduction Nakagawa (2024: 197); see Chapter 90 (Incorporation, Quasi-Incorporation, and Word Structure).

80.4 An instrumental use in Satō's account

Satō also describes instrumental ko- in tek-ko-nina “knead with the hands.” He analyzes the intermediate ko-nina as three-place but states that he found no other suitable example with an independent instrumental object Satō (2008: 244–245). The incorporated form supports this use within the documented expression; it does not establish unrestricted instrumental productivity.

The instrumental example and the source-related uses above broaden the picture beyond “to a person.” Each prefix's distribution is described through lexical and constructional evidence, as discussed in Chapter 78 (Applicative Constructions and Their Arguments).

80.5 Comparison with o- and complex formations

Nakagawa contrasts war coming to a village, expressed with o-ek, with war coming against a sister, expressed with ko-ek. Both examples state the affected goal explicitly Nakagawa (2024: 198, examples 192–193). The complete comparison appears in Chapter 81 (The o- Applicative).

Combinations of ko- with reciprocal or reflexive material can also acquire conventional meanings. The handbook analyzes sociative uko- as expressing joint participation and distinguishes it from ordinary applicative formation Bugaeva & Kobayashi (2022: §4.3.2). Adjacent e-ko- and ko-e- combinations have their own limited distribution; see Chapter 82 (Multiple Applicatives, Incorporation, and Relative Clauses).