Chapter 84Reflexive yay- and Its Extensions
Participant identity, intentionality and direct-reflexive analyses, reflexive possession, lexical extensions, and combinations with si-.
84.1 Reflexive participants
The prefix yay- commonly identifies an object's referent with the subject: yay-ipe-re means “feed oneself,” and yay-kar “transform oneself.” A two-place base thereby becomes one-place. With a higher-valency base, another object can remain Bugaeva & Kobayashi (2022: §4.2.2); Nakagawa (2024: 187–188). The reflexive identifies participants; its effect on the final argument count depends on the base and other derivations.
‘He transformed himself into a human and was lying to the god.’
Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: §4.1.1; Example 4b
The Handbook's transformation example uses aynu ne as the resulting form. The grammatical gloss INFR.EVID follows its functional analysis of ruwe.
Person marking applies to the derived verb's argument frame. The prefix is derivational and its availability is partly lexical Satō (2008: 251). See Chapter 73 (Valency and Voice Constructions) for the comparison with other valency operations and Chapter 69 (Person-Marker Order and Stem Boundaries) for the position of person forms.
84.2 Intentionality and direct participation
A traditional account contrasts intentional yay- with unintentional si-. The familiar pair is yay-pusu, coming to the surface through one's own action, and si-pusu, floating up spontaneously. Nakagawa quotes Tamura's formulation but observes that clear lexical pairs of this kind are limited Nakagawa (2024: 187).
‘A boy dives into the river and finally comes to the surface.’
Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: §4.2.2; Example 14
The Handbook reproduces Kindaichi 1931:149. This is a source illustration; no dialect is assigned here beyond its reported Ainu provenance.
Satō proposes direct reflexive for yay- and indirect reflexive for si-. On his account, yay- presents the subject as directly carrying out the action on itself, while si- can involve the action or perception of others. Deliberate si- constructions, including having someone help oneself and pretending ignorance, motivate this alternative to an intentionality contrast ‹contested› Satō (2007: §3.3); Satō (2008: 249–251). The constructions and other analyses are discussed in Chapter 85 (Reflexive si- in Verbal and Spatial Constructions).
84.3 Reflexive possession inside a verb
A reflexive may identify the possessor of an incorporated noun with the subject. In yay-par-oyki “feed oneself,” the relevant possession is one's own mouth. The Handbook calls this a quasi-possessive reflexive Bugaeva & Kobayashi (2022: §4.2.2, example 16).
‘Feed oneself (literally, do about one's own mouth).’
Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: §4.2.2; Lexical illustration, example 16
The Handbook attributes the example to Satō 2018. The reflexive is the incorporated noun's possessor.
This derivational possessor differs from the person indexes in the two-word constructions that Satō calls quasi-incorporation. Their lexical and morphological structure is compared in Chapter 90 (Incorporation, Quasi-Incorporation, and Word Structure). Neither construction supports a blanket ban on possession in complex verbs.
84.4 Lexical extensions and combinations
Nakagawa records uses of yay- with no arity reduction: yay-an “be ordinary” remains one-place, and yay-kotan means “one's own village.” He analyzes the prefix as arity-neutral in these uses Nakagawa (2024: 187). The English word “self” thus covers several grammatical constructions.
The documented yay-si-turi-re means to stretch oneself out and lie down. Nakagawa notes that he has not found the reversed ordering with si- outside yay-, suggesting a closer association of si- with the root ‹speculative› Nakagawa (2024: 188). The attested combination is compatible with lexically restricted derivation; it does not supply a general recipe for stacking the two prefixes.
References cited in this chapter
Bugaeva & Kobayashi (2022) ·Nakagawa (2024) ·Satō (2007) ·Satō (2008)