Chapter 70Person and Verbal Number
Participant number, comitative grouping, numeral constructions, fourth-person mismatches, and additional plural morphology.
70.1 Person number and verbal number
Person forms and verb stems can both express number. Their relationship depends on the verb, the construction, and the use of the person series. Some verbs distinguish singular and plural stems; others have no such pair, or use a plural formation for repeated or distributed events Nakagawa (2024: 141–160). The inventory and meanings of these formations appear in Chapter 58 (Verbal Number and Stem Alternation).
Third person has no overt singular–plural contrast in the basic person paradigm Nakagawa (2024: 166–170). A change in verb stem can therefore express number even where person marking remains unchanged.
70.2 Participants identified by nouns and phrases
Here the number of the subject is expressed in both the noun and the verb stem. Comitative expressions can instead describe the participants through a combination of phrases. Shibatani's Ishikari example groups the speaker with the husband and uses a plural motion verb with first-plural S marking Shibatani (1990: 36, example 48c).
This example supports participant grouping in that construction. It does not make the number of overt noun phrases a general rule for choosing a person suffix.
70.3 Numerals and plural stems
Refsing disputes earlier claims that a numeral expression excludes a plural verb. In her Shizunai material, plural person marking accompanies a plural stem, where one exists, even when a numeral is present. Examples without overt person marking show greater variation Refsing (1986: 38) ‹contested›. Her observation concerns the data and construction she describes; neither an obligatory singular-stem rule nor an obligatory plural-stem rule follows for every numeral phrase in Ainu.
The person marker eci= also requires care. Its ordinary second-plural use contrasts with a Saru/Chitose portmanteau that can represent two singular participants, “I” and “you” Nakagawa (2024: 170–173). Its spelling alone does not establish plural reference. See Chapter 65 (Eci and Person Interactions).
70.4 Fourth person and the number of referents
The same fourth-person forms serve uses with different relationships to verbal number Nakagawa (2024: 175–180); Takahashi (2015: 208–211).
| Use and variety | Number behavior |
|---|---|
| Saru/Chitose inclusive | Plural stems with the group that includes speaker and addressee |
| Saru/Chitose honorific singular | Plural stems can address one person |
| Saru/Chitose narrator or quoted speaker | Singular and plural stems can distinguish the number of represented speakers |
| Horobetsu narrator | A singular stem can accompany the plural-shaped pronoun aokay |
| Shizunai narrator | Plural stems accompany either singular anani or plural anoka |
| Tokachi inclusive series in narration | Plural stems can refer to a single protagonist |
The pronouns in the comparison have distinct regional distributions Nakagawa (2024: 178–179). Tokachi narratives also permit ordinary first-person singular forms Takahashi (2015: 207–210). The table describes the indicated uses of the fourth-person or inclusive series, rather than every narrative in those dialects.
70.5 Additional number marking
Stem-forming number morphology and additional markers such as pa or ci have different distributions. Nakagawa distinguishes these resources and describes dialect differences in their position and use Nakagawa (2024: 151–160). Satō's Chitose yaynu-an-pa places additional pa after the person suffix Satō (2008: 104).
Such forms can combine person marking, stem number and further plural or iterative meaning. Each element must be interpreted in its construction. Sakhalin -(a)hci belongs to a separate regional description Sakaguchi (2024: 62–63); Nakagawa (2024: 152–155). Ordering and morphological-status questions are treated in Chapter 69 (Person-Marker Order and Stem Boundaries).
References cited in this chapter
Nakagawa (2024) ·Refsing (1986) ·Sakaguchi (2024) ·Satō (2008) ·Shibatani (1990) ·Takahashi (2015)