Knowledge base · Part XII — The Simple Clause and Nonverbal Predication · this topic as a network
92. Basic Constituent Order and Head-Final Syntax
What is the basic constituent order and head-final syntactic profile?
Noun phrases in Ainu have no grammatical marking for the syntactic roles of subject and object (Nakagawa 2022: 14.7). The basic structure of Ainu sentences is determined primarily by verbal valency and five structures based on typological properties of head-marking languages (Satō 2025). A sentence may appear as independent noun phrase(s) and a predicate, or as a predicate marked for person without an independent noun phrase (Satō 2025). Basic sentences are determined according to the type of verb, specifically as a one-place, two-place, three-place, or copula verb (Satō 2025).
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The head-final profile
What is the head-final profile in terms of verb position and preverbal elements?
Modifiers strictly precede the elements they modify. (Bugaeva 2015: 43, Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Refsing 1986) Modifiers precede what they modify, and subordinate clauses come before main clauses. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) All nominal and clausal modifiers precede the element they modify in Ainu. (Bugaeva 2014) Adjectives precede nouns, and adverbs precede verbs. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In Ainu, only noun phrases can serve as arguments of a verb phrase, and the number of noun phrases a verb phrase can take is fixed by its valency (arity). (Nakagawa 2024: 361) Elements showing case relations follow the noun phrase, auxiliary verbs follow verbs, and noun modifiers (such as adnominals and verb phrases) precede the head noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 365) Ainu word order is basically the same as Japanese word order. (Satō 2008: 2)
Verb-finality and the sentence template
What is the sentence template for verb-final clauses?
The basic constituent order of Ainu is SOV. (Bugaeva 2006: 185, Bugaeva 2022: 1.1, 1.7, Shibatani 1990: 16) The basic constituent order of Ainu is SV in intransitive clauses and AOV in transitive clauses. (Bugaeva 2008, Bugaeva 2012: 472–473, Bugaeva 2015: 43, Bugaeva 2016) Nominal objects and complements precede the verb. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Refsing 1986) In Shizunai Ainu, a minimal complete sentence consists of a single verb. (Refsing 1986: 267) The basic word order in Ainu is AOV. (Bugaeva 2015: 56) When the subject appears as an independent word (noun or pronoun), which is limited to the third person, the constituent order is 'subject + Class II verb' or 'subject + object/complement + Class I verb'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) For Class I verbs, first-person subject markers appear as prefixes, resulting in the order 'object/complement + (subject-)verb'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The basic constituent order of a Sakhalin Ainu clause is SOV, with the verb phrase occurring sentence-finally. (Murasaki 2025: 90) Sakhalin Ainu distinguishes six simple clause types by the argument requirements of the VP: complete verb clause (0 NPs), designating clause (2 NPs + CP), existential clause (1 NP + EV), intransitive clause (1 NP + VP1), monotransitive clause (2 NPs + VP2), and ditransitive clause (3 NPs + VP3). (Murasaki 2025: 90) A sentence-final phrase expressing evidential grounding or speaker attitude can be placed after the verb phrase, but a sentence is grammatically complete without it. (Nakagawa 2024: 361) In an Ainu clause, the verb phrase (plus any sentence-final phrase) occurs sentence-finally, and all other elements precede it. (Nakagawa 2024: 363) A sentence whose total arity sums to 0 is a complete sentence, whereas a sentence whose arity is non-zero is an incomplete sentence. (Nakagawa 2024: 370) Noun phrases and adverbial phrases occur outside the verb phrase, whereas elements other than the main verb inside the verb phrase follow the verb. (Nakagawa 2024: 371) The element at the head of a verb phrase is analyzed as the main verb, even in third-person contexts where personal affixes do not overtly mark it. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 371) A predicate consists of either a verb expression or a copula expression, which may or may not be followed by a sentence-final form or suffix. (Refsing 1986: 271) A predicate without any adjuncts may in itself form a complete sentence. (Refsing 1986: 271) In Ainu clauses, verbs are normally placed at the end of the sentence, but the mutual ordering of subjects, objects, complements, and adjunct modifiers can vary. (Satō 2008: 21) Sentences in Ainu frequently lack overt subjects because person is indexed on predicates. (Shibatani 1990: 18)
Preverbal NP order: free or fixed?
Is the ordering of agent and object NPs fixed or free?
In transitive clauses with a nominal subject, the object precedes the verb and follows the subject, yielding S-O-V order. (Refsing 1986: 143, 144) When the subject is a pronominal prefix, it attaches directly to the verb, yielding an O-S-V constituent order with a nominal object. (Refsing 1986: 143, 144) In clauses with three-place verbs and a nominal subject, the constituent order is subject – indirect object – direct object – verb. (Refsing 1986: 143, 144) In clauses with three-place verbs where the subject is a pronominal affix, the most frequent constituent order is indirect object – direct object – subject – verb. (Refsing 1986: 143, 144) Ainu lacks case particles corresponding to Japanese ga and o, with core syntactic roles indicated by word order and context. (Satō 2008: 3, 21) Ainu is basically an SOV language with flexibility in the relative ordering of subject and object, but it is strictly verb-final. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) The functions of nominative, accusative, and vocative cases are indicated by word order and environment. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Dative case is indicated by word order when it functions as the indirect object of a transitive verb. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The three noun phrase arguments of the verb e-pakasnu 'teach someone something' precede the verb, but their relative order is free. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.6) The relative order among noun phrases, or between noun phrases and adverbial phrases, before the verb phrase is not grammatically fixed to subject-object-verb order. (Nakagawa 2024: 363) Because Ainu lacks case-marking particles like Japanese ga and o, and noun phrases bear no grammatical markers of subject or object, the grammatical role of noun phrases cannot be determined grammatically but must be judged by context and real-world knowledge. (Nakagawa 2024: 364) In Chitose Ainu, all three orders of indirect object, direct object, and subject (IO-S-DO, IO-DO-S, and S-IO-DO) are attested in natural speech with the ditransitive verb epakasnu. (Nakagawa 2024: 364) When the subject is a noun or pronoun, it precedes the verb, and if an object or complement is present, the word order is SOV. (Refsing 1986) When the subject is a pronominal affix and the object is a noun, the word order becomes OSV. (Refsing 1986) In clause constituent order, a subject generally precedes an object. (Refsing 1986: 271) The order of the indirect object and the direct object in a ditransitive clause can be swapped. (Satō 2008: 21) Because nouns lack case inflections, word order determines the grammatical functions of certain nouns in Ainu. (Shibatani 1990: 22) In clauses with ablative oblique nominals, the subject normally precedes the ablative nominal, whereas the object normally follows it, appearing immediately before the verb. (Shibatani 1990: 58)
Modifier order inside the NP
What is the order of modifiers inside the noun phrase?
Postpositions and the marking of obliques
How are oblique arguments marked in the clause?
Particles are all postpositions. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936)
Negation, adjuncts, and topic fronting
What is the position of negation and adjuncts in the clause?
An adverbial phrase (AP) usually precedes a VP and modifies it. (Murasaki 2025: 105) Adverbial phrases in Ainu can occur in any number within a clause, regardless of the arity of the verb phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 361) There is no fixed order between adverbial phrases and noun phrases, as long as both precede the verb phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 362) Grammatical subjects do not necessarily precede objects or vice versa; rather, topicalized elements marked by secondary particles such as anakne or ka tend to appear clause-initially regardless of their grammatical role. (Nakagawa 2024: 365) The order of predicate adjuncts in the Shizunai dialect is very free. (Refsing 1986) A sentence consists of a predicate preceded optionally by any order and number of relational adjuncts, adverbial adjuncts, and quotational adjuncts. (Refsing 1986: 268) Topics, temporal expressions, and locative expressions are usually placed at the beginning of a sentence. (Refsing 1986: 271) Adverbials cannot be inserted freely between a verb and its object in Ainu. (Satō 2016) An adverb precedes the verb in Ainu. (Shibatani 1990: 24)