Chapter 162Sakhalin and Northern Kuril Comparisons

162.1 The varieties represented in the records

Sakhalin comparison rests on several named varieties and substantial text collections. Tangiku's grammatical overview concentrates on west-coast Esutoru and Odasu. Fujiyama Haru was born in Esutoru and lived for many years in Raichishka, which explains the Raichishka label in earlier descriptions of her speech. Murasaki's Odasu collection records Asai Take Tangiku (2022: §1).

Northern Kuril documentation is much thinner. Nakagawa and Fukazawa report vocabulary records concentrated on Shumshu and no audio materials; Torii's 1903 account also contains short sentences. Southern Kuril varieties are usually grouped with Hokkaido, so ‘Kuril’ without further qualification can conceal different samples Nakagawa & Fukazawa (2022: regional documentation appendix, Northern Kuril dialects).

162.2 Sound correspondences

Sakhalin kaani ‘metal’ and seeseh ‘hot’ correspond to Hokkaido káni and sések. Length can alternate with a suffix, as in kii/ki-hci ‘do’. Tangiku discusses whether length belongs to the underlying vowel or to its realization; the predictable pitch pattern is a separate descriptive fact Tangiku (2022: §§2.1, 2.5).

Common syllable-final correspondences include p, t, k > h, with s after i; m > n; and an added vowel after r. The conditions on the stop and final-r correspondences are described in Chapter 157 (Sakhalin Final Consonants and Vowel Length). Initial r/t also varies: ‘white’ appears as Hokkaido retar, southern Sakhalin retara, and tetara in Esutoru and Nairo. For ‘ice’, Tangiku lists Hokkaido rup, Esutoru ruh, Tarantomari rup, and Nairo tup Tangiku (2022: §§2.2–2.6).

162.3 Possession and number

Sakhalin affiliative forms include sapa-ha ‘head’, ram-uhu ‘heart’, tek-ihi ‘hand’, and imi-yehe ‘clothes’. Tangiku compares them with Hokkaido short and long affiliative forms Tangiku (2022: §4.1).

Murasaki's consultant distinguishes these expressions by whether the speaker is in their own village or referring to it from elsewhere; the account also mentions a deity's use of the second expression. This reported judgment concerns the particular construction and context, rather than a universal distinction between ownership types Tangiku (2022: §4.2).

Verbal plural -(a)hci differs from affiliative-noun plural -(a)hcin. The latter can reflect plural possessors or plural possessed entities. In two passages from a story about three sisters, nanna-ha-hcin refers first to one elder sister relative to two younger sisters, and later to two elder sisters relative to the youngest. The same form permits both relationships Tangiku (2022: §§6.2, 6.6–6.7, examples 47–48; Murasaki 2001:192).

162.4 Person and numerals

The described Sakhalin system lacks dedicated exclusive ci-/-as forms. Its an-/-an series covers both inclusive and exclusive plural reference and can also occur with singular reference in elders' speech Tangiku (2022: §§7.2–7.4). The interaction paradigm also differs from Saru: for first singular acting on second singular, both have eci-; for first singular acting on second plural, Sakhalin has eci-…-an where Saru has eci- Tangiku (2022: §7.7, Table 3).

The numeral system supplies another structural contrast. Tangiku lists decimal tu-kunkutu ‘twenty’, re-kunkutu ‘thirty’, and sine-tanku ‘one hundred’, alongside hohne for twenty. An Itelmen source for kunkutu is a historical proposal Tangiku (2022: §3.3).

162.5 The limits of external comparison

Northern Kuril lexical affinities can be investigated even where full grammatical paradigms are unavailable. Ono finds the strongest Hokkaido lexical connection with northeastern varieties, followed by southwestern ones, and explains how this is compatible with earlier observations about southern vocabulary Ono (2020: 234–235, especially note 3). These results and broader historical proposals require different evidence from the Sakhalin paradigms above; see Chapter 159 (Dialect Classification and Dialectometry) and Chapter 156 (Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Prosody).