Knowledge base · Part XII — The Simple Clause and Nonverbal Predication · this topic as a network
93. Argument Realization: Affix Indexing and Free NP Order
How does the language encode grammatical relations and order of noun phrases?
Overview
How does the language mark core arguments on the predicate?
Core arguments, whether realized as nouns or pronouns, bear no morphological case flagging. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473, Bugaeva 2015: 43) Arguments in Ainu, whether nouns or pronouns, are not marked for case, whereas adjuncts are marked by postpositions. (Bugaeva 2016) Ainu indicates subject and object arguments by the absence of case markers on the noun phrases. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.6) Nominative and objective cases are marked only in the pronominal affixes where separate forms exist; otherwise they must be inferred from word order and context. (Refsing 1986)
Obligatory indexing; the verb alone is a complete sentence
Can a verb alone form a complete sentence without noun phrases?
Personal pronouns in subject and object positions are often omitted because person and number of both subject and object are obligatorily marked on predicates by cross-reference affixes. (Bugaeva 2008) A clause in which all n noun phrases required by the verb phrase's arity are overtly present is defined as a 'complete sentence' (kanketsubun). (Nakagawa 2024: 362) When an object is first or second person, the objective personal affix must obligatorily be used. (Satō 2008: 32) Although an independent personal pronoun can be added for emphasis, the personal affix cannot be omitted. (Satō 2008: 32) Independent noun phrases expressing grammatical relations (subject and object) are not obligatory elements in Ainu, whereas personal affixes are obligatory on predicates. (Satō 2025)
The structural status of overt NPs
What is the structural relation between overt noun phrases and verbal indexes?
Even if an argument is semantically indefinite or refers to the speaker, it takes third-person verbal agreement if it is overtly expressed as a noun phrase in the clause. (Nakagawa 2024: 182) In Ainu, personal affixes function as core arguments, whereas independent nouns merely corefer with them and stand outside the verb, reflecting the head-marking character of the language. (Satō 2023) Independent noun phrases are optional and not essential clausal elements in Ainu. (Satō 2025)
Null and zero arguments
How are contextually clear arguments omitted from the sentence?
A sentence is grammatically well-formed even if an argument noun phrase is absent from the clause, provided it can be semantically recovered from context. (Nakagawa 2024: 362) Because personal pronouns are frequently omitted, person is often marked on the surface solely by the personal affixes. (Tamura 1972: 17)
Modes of argument realisation
What are the possible ways to realize a core argument?
In Ainu, verbal argument slots can be satisfied either through person marking (and coreferential independent nouns) or directly inside the verb by an independent nominal root. (Satō 2023)
Are overt NPs arguments? The appositional-NP debate
Are overt noun phrases arguments or appositives to pronominal indexes?
When a verb with an objective person affix lacks a subject person affix, the subject is interpreted as third person. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In Ainu three-place verbs, a non-cross-referenced theme noun phrase functions syntactically as a core argument outside the nucleus. (Satō 2025)
The location-class noun as role disambiguation
How does the language disambiguate agent and patient when both are third person?
In a separable verb clause, the following transitive verb takes the object-inflected locational noun as its object and itself undergoes nominative personal agreement. (Satō 2008: 231)