Chapter 154Respectful, Ritual, and Avoidance Registers

154.1 Respectful address by region

Respectful address uses different person forms in different regions. Nakagawa reports Tokachi anokay for one respected addressee and anutari for several, both grammatically plural. In the Ishikari account he quotes from Tamura, second-person plural supplies ordinary respectful address and fourth person a higher degree of respect Nakagawa (2024: 530, citing Tamura 1988a:22–23).

The Saru conversational conventions are described in Chapter 68 (Fourth Person in Respectful Address) and Chapter 145 (Gender, Address, and Speech Conventions). Satō's uncertainty about a second-person honorific in Chitose elevated language concerns that particular description Satō (2008: 261).

154.2 Person and naming in prayer

Prayer can combine ordinary first-person reference with special address expressions. Endō's example from Motozō Nabesawa, also named Motoanrek, contains ku= and addresses the fire deity as the grandmother who rules the land Endō (2022: §2.3, example 13).

The same prayer calls the deity i-res-u kamuy, ‘the nourishing deity’. Endō glosses i- as antipassive in this expression; it leaves those nourished unspecified Endō (2022: §2.3, example 13). Special epithets coexist with ordinary names. The prayers edited by Kitahara include ape uci kamuy and apehucikamuy Kitahara (2013: 237–239, prayers 1, 2, 4).

Kitahara interprets a= in a=keytumu kasi as honorific second person in Sunazawa Tuakanno Ichitarō's prayers. He identifies comparable uses by that speaker within the edition, while noting that a similar form in another speaker's prayer permits several analyses Kitahara (2013: 238, note 6).

This edition concerns Kuramitsu's 1953 volume associated with the Monbetsu City bear ceremony and speakers of the Asahikawa and middle Ishikari area. Some prayers had been recorded separately beforehand. Kitahara reconstructs the romanization from the earlier kana text, marking uncertain readings Kitahara (2013: 233–237).

154.3 Prayer and incantation

Endō distinguishes prayers composed for the occasion from shorter incantations with established wording. Her account associates prayer and ceremonial negotiation with adult men, while incantations can be used by people of either sex and any age. The wording, melody, and participation conventions belong to the particular ritual genre Endō (2022: §2.3).

Prayer endings also vary. Endō's example contains siri ne hi tapan na and ne hi tapan na. These combine familiar formal nouns and predicates with the longer phrasing of the prayer Endō (2022: §2.3, example 13). For the grammatical constructions, see Chapter 120 (Formal Nouns and Evidential Constructions) and Chapter 153 (Poetic and Elevated Language).

154.4 Mountain and offshore avoidance vocabulary

Historical accounts also describe words selected for particular places or activities. Nakagawa reproduces Chiri's reports of Tokachi mountain speech and Shari and Shiraoi offshore speech. The Tokachi list goes back to Matsuura Takeshirō's Tokachi nisshi Nakagawa (2024: 530–532, Tables 84–86, citing Chiri 1957).

The substitutions do not follow a single grammatical rule. Some use another familiar noun, others a description. Nakagawa also notes that penup and cape, listed as substitutes in Shiraoi, are ordinary words for their referents in other regions Nakagawa (2024: 532).