Chapter 42Noun-Phrase Structure

42.1 Heads and modifying expressions

An Ainu noun phrase can consist of a noun alone or a nominal head with modifiers. Demonstratives, numeral prenominals, property predicates, and relative clauses precede the head in the constructions described by Nakagawa, Shibatani, and Bugaeva Nakagawa (2024: 379–386); Shibatani (1990: 42–44); Bugaeva (2012: 477). Numeral nouns also occur after a noun phrase. The structural possibilities depend on the kind of modifier and the nominal head.

Several modifiers can occur together. Shibatani's Ishikari example has a numeral before a property predicate:

Kawakami Matsuko's Saru narrative has a relative modifier before wen “bad, wretched,” followed by a diminutive noun and plural utar:

42.2 Demonstrative prenominals

Demonstratives identify referents through location or preceding discourse. Nakagawa's Saru inventory distinguishes taan, near the speaker or listener, from toan, away from both. It also distinguishes ne, referring to what has just been mentioned, from nea, recalling an earlier referent Nakagawa (2024: 283).

These are number distinctions in the demonstratives Nakagawa (2024: 283, Table 72). Bugaeva likewise describes number contrasts among anaphoric forms Bugaeva (2012: 472). Their deictic meanings, regional forms, and discourse uses are developed in Chapter 50 (Demonstratives and Reference).

42.3 Numerals before and after the noun

Numeral prenominals directly precede nouns: Nakagawa's Saru examples include tu cip “two boats” and asikne okkayo “five men” Nakagawa (2024: 462). These constructions contain no intervening classifier. Numeral nouns have a different distribution, following the expression they quantify or occurring independently Refsing (1986: 116–117); Shibatani (1990: 42–43).

Nakagawa's Saru example combines tu okkaypo “two young men” with ponmenoko sinep “one young woman.” His Chitose examples place sinep after a full nominal expression, including siknu wa hosipi p “one who returned alive” and a=matnepoho “my daughter” Nakagawa (2024: 383, examples 747–749).

He analyzes the noun phrase and following numeral noun as one larger noun phrase, including examples in which intervening particles separate them Nakagawa (2024: 384). The numeral forms and their constructional differences are described in Chapter 55 (Numeral Syntax, Ordinals, and Quantity).

42.4 Property predicates and other prenominals

A property verb can directly modify a noun, as kunne “black” does in the Ishikari example above. Such words also take person marking and serve as predicates Nakagawa (2022: §§2.1–2.2). Their classification is discussed in Chapter 37 (Property Predicates and the Adjective Analysis).

Other prenominals have more restricted noun-modifying uses. Nakagawa lists forms including pinne “male,” matne “female,” and oya “other” Nakagawa (2024: 286). Some members of his inventory, such as sonno and sino, also have adverbial uses. A prenominal position alone does not identify a single word class.

42.5 Relative modifiers and nominalized content

A relative clause precedes its head, which may be an ordinary or a formal noun. The head has a grammatical relation to the modifying clause. In content nominalization, a following nominalizing form instead presents the preceding proposition as a nominal expression Nakagawa (2024: 507–510). Forms such as p/pe occur in both kinds of construction; see Chapter 102 (Lexical Heads and Formal-Noun Nominalization).

Locative nouns receive different treatments. Nakagawa's 2022 description allows verb-phrase modification of them, but his 2024 table explicitly excludes it Nakagawa (2022: §3.4); Nakagawa (2024: 215) ‹contested›. Satō contrasts modifiable formal usi with locative or, which cannot replace it after the modifying clause in his example Satō (2008: 181).

42.6 Locations and following case particles

Locative nouns can head expressions such as nupuri or “the mountain's location,” followed by a case particle in nupuri or ta “at the mountain” Nakagawa (2024: 216). In this construction the locative noun provides the grammatical location required by the particle.

Ordinary conceptual nouns generally need this intermediary in location-requiring constructions, but lexical and regional exceptions occur. Affiliative forms generally have locative uses themselves, as in a-uni un “to my home” Nakagawa (2022: §3.5, example 17; §4.5); Bugaeva (2012: 476–477). The nominal expression and the following particle have separate roles, detailed in Chapter 53 (Place Particles and Motion Expressions).

42.7 Nominal juxtaposition and compounds

Bugaeva presents combinations such as sisam uwepeker “Japanese story” and kamuy rus “bear fur” as attributive noun phrases Bugaeva (2012: 477, example 28). Nakagawa instead analyzes conceptual-noun plus conceptual-noun combinations as compounds, contrasting them with expressions whose second noun is affiliative Nakagawa (2024: 380–382) ‹contested›. Their analyses differ in the boundary they draw between lexical composition and phrase structure.

The relevant morphological diagnostics are described in Chapter 39 (Nominal Compounds and Their Structure). The presence of two adjacent nouns alone does not identify them as two expressions referring to the same entity.

42.8 Possession and modifier placement

Nakagawa distinguishes possession with kor “have,” as in ku=kor cip “my boat,” from affiliative possession, as in ku=tekehe “my hand” Nakagawa (2024: 218–219). The latter is based on tek, with affiliative teke(he). Their distribution is treated in Chapter 43 (Possessive Constructions and Alienability) and Chapter 46 (Adnominal Possession and Double Marking).

Modifiers can occur in more than one position relative to person marking. Shibatani gives Saru wen ku-matakihi and ku-wen-matakihi, both translated “my dear younger sister” Shibatani (1990: 43, example 67b). Refsing records a comparable Shizunai pattern Refsing (1986: 154). These combinations also enter the discussion of compound and phrase boundaries.

42.9 Coordination and number distinctions

Nominal coordination varies by dialect. Nakagawa gives totto newa huci “mother and grandmother” in an Ishikari sentence and describes newa in varieties other than Saru and Chitose. His Saru example joins the names of two fish deities by juxtaposition Nakagawa (2024: 325–326, examples 540–541). This contrasts with verbal and clausal linkage by wa Shibatani (1990: 22).

Ordinary nouns retain the same form under numeral modification, but demonstratives can distinguish number, and modifying clauses retain verbal person and other grammatical material Shibatani (1990: 32, 42–44); Nakagawa (2024: 283). Number-neutral nouns, plural expressions, and verbal number are described separately in Chapter 41 (Nominal Number and Utar).