Knowledge base · Part III — Segmental Phonetics, Phonology, and Phonotactics · this topic as a network
16. The Consonant Inventory and Its Phonetic Realization
What consonants does Hokkaido Ainu have and how are they phonetically realized?
All consonants used in the Ainu language also appear in Japanese (Ōno 2022: 12.8).
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The phoneme inventory
What is the phoneme inventory of Hokkaido Ainu?
The inventory and number of consonants are identical across all dialects except for their positions of occurrence within words (Itabashi 2001). Ainu is analyzed as having eleven consonant phonemes, /p, t, k, c, s, h, m, n, r, y, w/ (Nakagawa 2024: 27, Satō 2008: 10), or twelve consonant phonemes including the glottal stop /ʔ/ (Kirikae 1997, Shibatani 1990). Excluding the glottal stop, Hokkaido Ainu has eleven consonant phonemes (Refsing 1986: 68). In Hokkaido Ainu dialects, twelve consonants including the glottal stop can occur as syllable onsets, alongside five vowels, while nine consonants can appear in coda position (Okuda 2022: 11.2). Southern Hokkaido Ainu has twelve consonant phonemes: /p/, /t/, /k/, /c/, /s/, /r/, /m/, /n/, /w/, /y/, /h/, and /ʔ/ (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465). For Saru Ainu, the consonant inventory is reported to consist of /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /y/, /w/, /h/, /ɾ/, and a phonetic glottal stop [ʔ] (reported in Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.2). Sakhalin Ainu has twelve consonant phonemes including the glottal stop: /p, t, k, c, s, r, m, n, w, y, h, ʔ/ (Murasaki 2025: 1, 88, Tangiku 2022: 9.2). Kuril Ainu has ten consonants: /p, t, k, c, s, m, n, h, r, ʔ/ (Itabashi 2001). Ainu lacks a contrast between palatalized and non-palatalized consonants (Kirikae 1997). The affricate /c/ varies freely among [tʃ], [ts], [dʒ], and [dz] (Shibatani 1990). Kirikae proposes that the articulation point of the affricate c is somewhat further forward than the consonant of Japanese chu, but not as far forward as Japanese tsu (proposed in Kirikae 1997: 5).
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Onset realizations
How are consonants realized in syllable-initial position?
All eleven consonants can occur in syllable-initial position (Nakagawa 2024: 27). Syllable-initial stop consonants in Ainu are frequently voiceless sounds without noticeable aspiration, though rarely completely unaspirated (Kirikae 1997: 4). Initial /c-/ is standardly realized as the voiceless palato-alveolar affricate [tʃ] (Nakagawa 2024: 28). In southern Hokkaido Ainu, /c/ is realized as a voiceless alveolar affricate [tʃ] or, in the speech of some speakers, as [ts] (Bugaeva 2012: 466–467). The affricate ch is realized as ts, dz, or j in careless speech, but is consistently ch in normal speech (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The letter c represents a single sound identical to the initial sound in Japanese cha (Satō 2008: 10). In Hokkaido Ainu, the affricate /c-/ is a dental plosive fricative [tʃ, (ts)] and is not found as a final (Refsing 1986: 68). In Sakhalin Ainu, /c/ is an affricate [tʃ], and the syllables /ca, ci, cu, ce, co/ are pronounced almost identically to Japanese cha, chi, chu, che, cho (Murasaki 2025: 2). Initial /h-/ assimilates its place of articulation to the following vowel: [h] before /a, e, o/, [ç] before /i/, and [ɸ] before /u/, though it can also be articulated further back near [h] before /u/ (Nakagawa 2024: 28). Weak fricative /h-/ in Hokkaido Ainu often becomes [ɸ] before /-u/ and does not appear as a final (Refsing 1986: 68). In Hokkaido Ainu, /y/ and /t/ cannot appear preceding /i/ (Refsing 1986: 68), and /w/ cannot precede /u/ or /i/ (Refsing 1986: 68). Morpheme-final /t/ alternates to [tʃ] before a suffix beginning in /i/ by the rule /t/ → [tʃ] / _i, as in [mat] 'wife' becoming [a-matʃi] 'my wife' (Shibatani 1990).
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Coda realizations
How are stops realized in coda position?
In syllable-coda position, the release of consonants is not prominent, and stops in particular lack plosion (Kirikae 1997: 4). Syllable-final stops /p, t, k/ are described as unreleased stops (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Nakagawa 2024: 29, Satō 2008: 5, 10, Shibatani 1990), realized in southern Hokkaido as unreleased [p̚], [t̚], and [k̚] as opposed to regular stops in onset position (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465), and in Hokkaido Ainu generally as unreleased and difficult to hear (Itabashi 2001); Refsing, however, describes syllable-final /p, t, k/ in Hokkaido Ainu as weak plosives (Refsing 1986: 68). The affricate /c/ is not found in syllable-final position (Refsing 1986: 68), and Hokkaido Ainu excludes both /c/ and /h/ from syllable-final position (Refsing 1986: 68). Syllable-coda /-s/ is realized as palatalized [sʲ] after /a, u, e, o/, but as alveolo-palatal [ɕ] after /i/ (Nakagawa 2024: 29). Ainu clearly distinguishes between the open syllable /si/ and syllable-coda /-s/ (Nakagawa 2024: 29). In Sakhalin Ainu, plosives /p, t, k/ occur only in syllable onset and never in syllable coda (Murasaki 2025: 1), and historical voiceless plosives all appear syllable-finally as /-h/ (Murasaki 2025: 1). Except for the Taraika dialect, the syllable-final stops /p/, /t/, /k/ and the tap /r/ have neutralized into /h/ in Sakhalin Ainu (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465). Sakhalin Ainu has the same consonant phonemes as Hokkaido Ainu, but /p, t, k, r, c/ cannot occur in final position (Refsing 1986: 68). In syllable-final position in Karafuto dialects, p, t, and k become h (or s after i), m becomes n, and r becomes rV (Tangiku 2022: 9.2). Dialects on the northern east coast from Taraika to Nairo, and around Tarantomari on the central west coast, preserve syllable-final p, t, and k as in Hokkaido dialects (Tangiku 2022: 9.2). The Esutoru dialect is reported to distinguish between syllable-final -is and -ih (reported in Tangiku 2022: 9.2).
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Nasals and nasal assimilation
What are the nasal phonemes and how do they behave?
Syllable-final /-m/ is a bilabial nasal [m] produced by closing both lips (Nakagawa 2024: 30), while syllable-final /-n/ is an apico-dental nasal [n] pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the teeth (Nakagawa 2024: 30). In southern Hokkaido Ainu, the nasals /m/ and /n/ are realized as velar [ŋ] before the stop /k/, and as bilabial [m] and alveolar [n] in all other environments (Bugaeva 2012: 466–467). The nasal n slightly palatalizes before i and becomes [ŋ] before k, but neither variant is an independent phoneme (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Syllable-final /-n/ assimilates to [m] before the bilabial consonants /p/ and /m/, and to [ŋ] before the velar stop /k/ (Nakagawa 2024: 30). Because /n/ is automatically pronounced as [m] before /m/, the pronunciation [mm] for n+w represents conditioned allophony rather than phonemic alternation (Nakagawa 2024: 37). In certain words, an alternation or sound change from m to p occurs (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Sakhalin Ainu, the syllable-final consonant -m is realized and transcribed as -n when it sounds like -n depending on the phonetic environment (Murasaki 2025). In the Raichishka dialect of Sakhalin, /m/ is pronounced [m] in syllable onset and weakens in syllable coda (Murasaki 2025: 2).
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Voicing
Does Hokkaido Ainu have phonemic voicing contrasts?
Ainu lacks a phonemic contrast between voiced and voiceless consonants (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465, Kirikae 1997, Nakagawa 2024: 27, Refsing 1986: 56), and stops in particular lack a phonemic voicing contrast (Satō 2008: 5, Shibatani 1990). Voiceless stops k, t, p and their voiced counterparts g, d, b belong to the same phonemes and can be substituted without affecting word meaning, with pure pronunciation being voiceless in principle (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Labial stops in particular often become voiced (Kirikae 1997: 4), and the tendency for stops to be perceived as voiced is reported to follow the hierarchy /p/ > /t/ > /k/ (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 28). Men are reported to produce voiced allophones of stops more readily than women (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 27). In Hokkaido Ainu, stops and affricates lack a phonemic contrast between voiced and voiceless, or between aspirated and unaspirated (Itabashi 2001). Plosives /p, t, k/ in Hokkaido Ainu may become voiced intervocalically or following nasals (Refsing 1986: 68). In southern Hokkaido, stops /p/, /t/, and /k/ are often, though not necessarily, realized as voiced [b], [d], and [g] in intervocalic position, after nasals /m, n/, or after the tap /r/ (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465), while /c/ is realized as a voiced affricate [dʒ] after nasals /m, n/ (Bugaeva 2012: 466–467). Stops and affricates in Hokkaido Ainu are voiceless word-initially and tend to be voiced intervocalically, especially immediately following a nasal (Itabashi 2001). In the Bihoro idiolect of Ginosuke Kikuchi, the voiced retroflex plosive [ɖ] was attested (reported in Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.2). Hokkaido fricatives are only voiceless and never voiced (Itabashi 2001). In Sakhalin Ainu, stops and affricates lack a phonemic contrast between voiced and voiceless or between aspirated and unaspirated, being generally voiceless and unaspirated (Itabashi 2001); they are voiceless word-initially and may be voiced intervocalically or immediately following a nasal (Itabashi 2001). Sakhalin fricatives are only voiceless and never voiced (Itabashi 2001). In the speech of Haru Fujiyama and Take Asai, voiced pronunciations of plosives were virtually absent, except for intervocalic /p/ occasionally being semi-voiced, whereas Maoka speaker Yuku Ota sometimes voiced them (Murasaki 2025: 1). In Kuril Ainu, stops and affricates appear to lack phonemic oppositions between voiced and voiceless, or between aspirated and unaspirated (proposed in Itabashi 2001); they tend to be voiceless word-initially and voiced intervocalically (Itabashi 2001). Kuril fricatives appear to have been voiceless only and did not undergo voicing (proposed in Itabashi 2001).
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The rhotic /r/
What are the phonetic realizations of the rhotic /r/?
In syllable-initial position, /r-/ is basically a tap [ɾ], but depending on the speaker it can be a trill [r] or a voiced stop close to [d] (Nakagawa 2024: 28). In Sakhalin Ainu, initial /r-/ is retroflex [ʈ], and distinguishing it from [t] can sometimes be difficult (Nakagawa 2024: 28). Syllable-final /-r/ is lightly accompanied by the timbre of the vowel of the preceding or following syllable, sometimes making it difficult to distinguish from an /rV/ sequence (Nakagawa 2024: 30). In words like /pirka/ or /arki/ where a syllable with /i/ precedes or follows /-r/, the consonant tends to be heard as [pirĭka] or [arĭki]; /arki/ may also be heard as [arăki] or [arŭki], but /pirka/ is never heard as *[pirăka] (Nakagawa 2024: 30).
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