Chapter 21Syllable Structure, Phonotactics, and Word-Edge Constraints

21.1 The syllable template

A Hokkaido Ainu syllable contains one vowel, with at most one consonant before it and one after it. This can be written (C)V(C), where parentheses mark optional positions Nakagawa (2024: 41); Satō (2008: 11); Shiraishi (2022: §4.1).

These examples follow Nakagawa Nakagawa (2024: 41). An analysis that assigns a glottal consonant /ʔ/ to every vowel-initial syllable reduces the list to CV and CVC, as in Bugaeva's description Bugaeva (2012: 467). The difference depends on the treatment of glottal closure described in Chapter 20 (Glottal Stops and the Distribution of /h/) ‹contested›.

21.2 Finding syllable boundaries

Consonant clusters cross syllable boundaries. Thus aynu “person” divides as ay.nu, and cepkoyki “fish” as a verb divides as cep.koy.ki. Between vowels, a single consonant ordinarily begins the following syllable: kamuy “deity” divides as ka.muy Nakagawa (2024: 42–43).

Consecutive vowel nuclei belong to separate syllables in the Hokkaido analysis. Nakagawa divides teeta “long ago” as te.e.ta, with a glottal interruption possible between the vowels Nakagawa (2024: 42–43). A written double vowel does not therefore automatically represent a single long vowel.

Morphological composition can change syllable boundaries. A final consonant may join a following vowel, as in sik-o “open the eyes,” pronounced with the division si.ko. Resyllabification can also be blocked at certain boundaries or by accent Shiraishi (2022: §4.4). The hyphen in a morphological analysis and the dot in a syllable analysis consequently need not occur in the same place.

21.3 Consonants in the coda

Hokkaido syllable codas admit /p, t, k, s, m, n, r, y, w/. The consonants /c/ and /h/ are restricted to onset position; /ʔ/, when included in the inventory, is also excluded from the coda Nakagawa (2024: 27); Bugaeva (2012: 467). Final stops are unreleased, while /r/ may have a vowel-like release; see Chapter 16 (The Consonant Inventory and Its Phonetic Realization) and Chapter 19 (The Rhotic /r/ and Coda-r).

Sakhalin permits a different set of codas, including /h/, and has phonemic vowel length. Those patterns require their own dialect qualification Tangiku (2022: §§2.1–2.4). They are compared with Hokkaido forms in Chapter 162 (Sakhalin and Northern Kuril Comparisons).

21.4 Syllable structure and word length

A short syllable template allows long words made from several such syllables. Nakagawa describes most roots as one or two syllables and notes that longer words often contain derivational or compound structure Nakagawa (2024: 47). His examples include two-syllable puni “lift” and three-syllable hopuni “fly up,” formed with a prefix.

Word length alone does not establish a segmentation. Nakagawa also discusses words whose internal structure cannot confidently be recovered Nakagawa (2024: 47). Morphological analysis requires evidence about the proposed parts.

21.5 Restrictions within the template

The template describes possible positions, with further restrictions on their occupants. The sequences /ti/, /yi/, /wi/, /wu/, /iy/, and /uw/ are excluded from monomorphemic forms in Shiraishi's account Shiraishi (2022: §4.2). Nakagawa similarly restricts /yi, wi, wu/ to morphological boundaries and excludes /ti/ Nakagawa (2024: 44–45).

Morphological combinations can yield sequences absent from simple roots. Shiraishi gives examples involving resyllabification across /y+i/ and /w+u/ boundaries Shiraishi (2022: §4.2). Consequently, a restriction stated for roots should retain that scope. The evidence for glides and their boundary behavior is examined in Chapter 22 (Glides, Vowel Hiatus, and the Diphthong Question).

21.6 Vowels, glides, and syllable count

Ordinary Hokkaido syllables do not have the shape CVVC. A final glide occupies the consonant position in CVC, while two vowel nuclei belong to two syllables. Nakagawa analyzes toop “far away” as to.op Nakagawa (2024: 42).

When a vowel becomes a glide in a morphological combination, syllable count can change. A surface pronunciation and an underlying morphological division may then look different. These alternations are described in Chapter 29 (Glide Epenthesis and Vowel-Hiatus Resolution) and Chapter 31 (Person Markers: Contraction, Accent, and Suffix Boundaries).

21.7 Borrowed forms

Borrowings provide evidence about how unfamiliar sequences are accommodated. Nakagawa notes that Japanese palatalized consonant sequences can be expanded into two syllables, illustrating this with the pronunciation represented as tookiyo for Tokyo. He also notes that Japanese affricates can correspond to Ainu /c/ Nakagawa (2024: 45).

A quoted Japanese expression, a conventional loan, and a fully adapted Ainu form need not have the same phonological behavior. The source and the use of the particular form are therefore part of the evidence for a borrowing claim.