Knowledge base · Part XI — Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation · this topic as a network

80. The ko- Applicative

What applicative construction in Hokkaido Ainu promotes goal/recipient, comitative, and adversative obliques to object?

Overview

How does the applicative prefix in Hokkaido Ainu change the number of arguments of a verb?

The prefix ko- indicates the direction or goal of an action, or the object affected by the action, and is the prefix among the three adjunct-increasing prefixes that most often carries an extra adjunct explicitly. (Refsing 1986: 183)

Semantic roles of the applied object

What semantic roles can the applied object take in the Hokkaido Ainu applicative construction?

The prefix ko- can express an ablative meaning ('from that'), derived from its directional/adversative meaning. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The verbal prefix ko- is rarely used to express the ablative relation. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The prefix ko- has an inessive meaning, 'in (that)' or 'at (that)'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The applicative prefix ko- is divided into a directional/adversative use meaning 'towards, against' (interchangeable with eun or or un) and an associative/comitative use meaning 'together with' (interchangeable with tura). (Nakagawa 2024: 196) The applicative prefix ko- derives the ditransitive verb ko-ruska 'to be angry at someone about something' from the transitive verb ruska 'to be angry at someone/something'. (Satō 2023)

Goal and addressee: relations directed toward a person

How does Hokkaido Ainu express a goal or addressee as a core object with motion verbs?

The dative postposition eun rarely marks recipients or addressees when a corresponding ko- applicative exists in the lexicon. (Bugaeva 2012: 482–483) When a recipient is pronominal, the non-applicative paraphrase with eun is completely absent from texts if a corresponding ko- applicative exists. (Bugaeva 2012: 482–483) The prefix ko- expresses meanings such as '(there) to', '(there)unto', 'to (that)', 'toward (that)', or 'against (that)'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Attaching the applicative prefix ko- to the intransitive verb hopuni 'to fly up' derives the transitive verb ko-hopuni (+2) 'to fly up towards', which can take a destination like kanto kotor 'the sky' as its direct object. (Nakagawa 2024: 193) To express a human recipient of pouring sake, the applicative prefix ko- is added to the intransitive iyomare, yielding koyyomare or koyomare. (Satō 2023) The applicative prefix ko- can express a dative or goal relation corresponding to the postposition orun. (Shibatani 1990)

Comitative and benefactive uses

How does Hokkaido Ainu promote a comitative participant to object position?

The applicative prefix ko- can express the comitative meaning 'together with'. (Nakagawa 2024: 197) The comitative use of ko- is relatively restricted, occurring mostly in fixed expressions and frequently co-occurring with noun incorporation. (Nakagawa 2024: 197) The last Ainu speakers adopted the benefactive pair verb construction wa kore (modelled on Japanese -te kureru) in place of ko-applicatives. (Bugaeva 2012) The comitative relation can also be expressed by the verbal prefix ko-. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The prefix ko- expresses meanings such as '(there) with', '(there) by', 'together with (that)', 'with (that)', 'by means of (that)', or 'for the sake of (that)'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) nina 'to knead' (two-argument verb) becomes konina 'to knead ... with ...' (three-argument verb) by adding the applicative prefix ko-. (Satō 2008: 244) The applicative prefix ko- can express a comitative relation corresponding to the postposition tura. (Shibatani 1990: 66)

The ko-/o- contrast

What distinguishes the two applicative prefixes that encode directional goal in Hokkaido Ainu?

The applicative prefix ko- can mark the allative relation on the verb instead of case-marking the noun, a pattern attested primarily in literary registers such as yukar epics. (Refsing 1986: 167) The applicative prefix o- refers exclusively to nouns with the meaning of place, whereas ko- is primarily used with non-place nouns referring to persons or animals, though place nouns are also possible with ko-. (Bugaeva 2006: 191) Phrases with a locative postposition such as huchi upsoro ta a-i-resu ('I was raised in grandmother's bosom') have the same meaning when the verb takes applicative prefixes like o- or ko- without the postposition (huchi upsoro a-i-o-resu or huchi upsoro a-i-ko-resu). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The applicative prefix ko- in the sense of 'towards' does not require a locational noun or postpositional phrase denoting a place, unlike e-. (Nakagawa 2024: 197)

ko- in the derivational chain and with e-

How does the applicative prefix interact with other valency operations in Hokkaido Ainu?

The prefix ko- also converts Class II verbs into Class I verbs. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The reflexive prefix si- can attach to the applicative prefix ko- to indicate the reference point of motion or orientation ('towards oneself'). (Satō 2008: 253) When yay- co-occurs with the applicative prefix ko-, yayko- either expresses an idiomatic meaning such as 'alone, by oneself' or 'intently', or yay- functions as the direct object of the action. (Satō 2008: 253)

Lexicalization and less transparent ko- forms

To what extent are verb forms with the applicative prefix lexicalized in Hokkaido Ainu?

When the prefix ko- is added to inkar 'to look, direct one's eyes', it derives the transitive verb koinkar 'to look toward', which is restricted to special contexts like 'a god watches over (someone)'. (Satō 2008: 242) hemesu 'to climb' becomes kohemesu 'to climb (onto something)' by adding the applicative prefix ko-. (Satō 2008: 244) The verb koytakkasi 'to ignore' is formed by attaching the applicative prefix ko- 'about' to itakkasi 'not to listen to / to disobey'. (Satō 2008: 304) The verb kosiru is analyzed as composed of the applicative prefix ko- ('toward') and the verb siru ('rub'). (Satō 2008)