Chapter 148Interjections and Mimetic Formations
Responses and calls, regional greetings, interjection morphology and verbal exceptions, sound imitation, and restricted mimetic formations.
148.1 Independent responses and speech within a clause
Interjections include greetings, replies, calls for attention, and expressions of emotion. They can form an utterance on their own, but also occur before or within a larger sentence. Refsing's Shizunai examples include a cry of pain after a clause, quoted expressions of gratitude, and calls introducing commands Refsing (1986: 131–133, §12.6.2).
‘Hurry up, walk quickly!’
Refsing 1986: 133; Shizunai, Example 150
The initial interjection calls for action; the following verbs form the command.
Nakagawa's inventory distinguishes reunion greetings such as eastern issorore and Tokachi isiorore. He gives ikatay for Shizunai and regions farther east. Other entries distinguish e for assent from ho in response to being called, alongside the dog call coco, and exclamatory oyoyo ‘frightening!’ Nakagawa (2024: 290–292). Social restrictions on particular greetings and calls are described in Chapter 145 (Gender, Address, and Speech Conventions).
148.2 Interjection morphology and verbal uses
Nakagawa analyzes several interjections as i- plus an intransitive base and a causative suffix. For gratitude, he relates iyairaykere to yairayke ‘be thankful’. The usual verb in his description is the shorter base, while the longer form commonly serves as the interjection Nakagawa (2024: 292).
The distribution nevertheless permits exceptions. Nakagawa quotes Kannari Matsu's postcard with a ki construction and, in a second sentence, person marking directly on iyayraykere. He also cites a Shizunai prayer with ki Nakagawa (2024: 292–293, examples 399–401).
‘I thank you.’
Nakagawa 2024: 292; Horobetsu, Example 399; Ekasi to Fuchi 1983, front matter
From Kannari Matsu's postcard to Kindaichi Kyōsuke. Nakagawa preserves the postcard's spelling iyayraykere, retained here.
The relation is different for expressions of surprise. Iokunnure and iokunure have ordinary verbal uses as well as interjection uses in Nakagawa's description Nakagawa (2024: 293, examples 402–404).
148.3 Sound imitation and mimetic description
Sound-imitative and mimetic bases participate in verb formation. Kindaichi and Chiri distinguish the two in their account of -se: yause imitates a cat's meowing and wose a dog's or wolf's howl; karkarse depicts rolling and ninninse flickering. Their -ke formations likewise include both types Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 119–120, §§179–180).
Their earlier discussion contrasts a single occurrence with repeated occurrences in formations such as humkosanu and humrototo. It also lists -atki formations, including tususatki ‘tremble’ Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 111–112, §§154–156).
Nakagawa's account of -atki expressly preserves Tamura's restriction to a limited set of lexical bases. His Ishikari poetic example has causative an=copop-atki-re for repeatedly dropping pounded millet into a pot with a plopping sound Nakagawa (2024: 207, example 207, citing Kubodera 1977a:407). These descriptions support particular formations and their meanings; they do not establish a general sound-to-size or sound-to-intensity paradigm.