Knowledge base · Part VIII — Pronouns, Demonstratives, Postpositions, and Numerals · this topic as a network
50. Demonstratives, Anaphora, and Definiteness
How does Hokkaido Ainu use demonstratives for deictic pointing and anaphoric tracking, and how does it express definiteness without articles?
Overview: a bipartite deixis system
How does Hokkaido Ainu divide demonstratives into two sets—one for pointing at scene-present referents and one for tracking discourse referents?
In Shizunai Ainu, all pronominal noun groups except personal pronouns have adverbial forms. (Refsing 1986) In Shizunai Ainu, demonstratives based on the roots ta and to primarily function as a deictic category indicating location in time and space relative to speech act participants, though they can also have anaphoric reference. (Refsing 1986) In Shizunai Ainu, demonstrative roots are definite and distinguish two degrees of proximity to the speaker: proximal ta and distal to. (Refsing 1986) In Shizunai Ainu, corresponding to the proximal and distal demonstrative roots ta and to, there is an indeterminate root ne used in interrogative and indefinite expressions. (Refsing 1986) Adnominals primarily function as prenominal modifiers of nouns and cannot serve as predicates. (Nakagawa 2024: 283) Ainu demonstrative adnominals are strictly differentiated between spatial/situational deictic forms (tan, taan, toan, toon) and textual/anaphoric forms (ne, nea, newaan). (Nakagawa 2024: 284) The demonstrative tapan 'this' etymologically derives from the verb tap 'in this way' and an 'to exist', and is originally a verb. (Nakagawa 2024: 401) Demonstratives and indeterminates possess a basic free form that alone generally functions as an adverbial adjunct. (Refsing 1986: 45) Combining the basic form of demonstratives and indeterminates with a suffix (-an, -on, -un, -oka) produces an adnoun, which is a bound form. (Refsing 1986: 45) Apart from the indefinites, anaphorics, demonstratives, and interrogatives all have adnominal forms that belong to the subclass of adnouns under clitics. (Refsing 1986: 75) All pronominal nouns except the anaphorics have adverbial forms that fall under nominals in the subclass of Conjunctions, Interjections, and Adverbs. (Refsing 1986: 75) The demonstrative adverbs of manner are proximal taa and distal too. (Refsing 1986) The double vowels /aa/ and /oo/ in demonstratives are often shortened to single vowels in rapid speech. (Refsing 1986) tap alone is never used as a subject or an object, and thus must be regarded as a form with low independence. (Satō 2008: 302)
Deictic prenominals
What are the deictic prenominal forms in Hokkaido Ainu, including their etymology and variant shapes?
The basic adnominal demonstrative forms are proximal taan and distal toon in the Shizunai dialect. (Refsing 1986) The demonstrative root ta forms part of fixed temporal idioms such as tap or tane ('now'), tanto ('today'), and tanpa ('this year'). (Refsing 1986) The deictic adnouns in Shizunai Ainu include taan, toon, and tooka. (Refsing 1986: 155) Vocative phrases in Ainu may contain demonstratives as modifiers, specifically proximal tan and taan, and occasionally medial toan. (Bugaeva 2008) The distal demonstrative toon lacks the usage of modifying vocative phrases. (Bugaeva 2008) Vocative phrases modified by demonstratives represent a less polite form of address used to refer to an addressee with a lower social status than that of the speaker. (proposed in Bugaeva 2008) In semi-direct reported discourse, there is no deictic shift in spatial expressions such as locative adverbs or demonstratives. (Bugaeva 2008) Ainu determiners occur only in prenominal position and cannot form a complete noun phrase on their own. (Bugaeva 2012: 470–471) The demonstrative tan (emphatic tapan) expresses something that is present, visible, is the new topic of conversation, or is located where the conversation takes place ('this, here'). (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The demonstrative taan expresses something in the immediate vicinity of the speaker ('this, here'). (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The demonstrative toan expresses something separated from oneself ('that, there'). (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) Demonstrative adjectives are formed by suffixing the existential verb an 'to be' (plural okai) to the medial and distal demonstrative pronouns, while the proximal adjective tan derives from the medial base ta-án. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Medial demonstrative adjectives with tá- are rarely used, but when used, their accent falls on ta (táan), strictly distinguishing them by pitch from the emphatic proximal demonstrative adjective taán. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Proximal demonstrative adjectives also occur as tapan 'this' and tapokai 'these', derived from the adverb tap 'now'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The demonstrative adjectives tan and tapan have developed an intensive meaning 'very / so' from an accompanying deictic gesture implying 'this much'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The adnominal demonstratives distinguish singular and plural: proximal tan / tanoka(y), distal tara / taranoka(y), emphatic distal ta'a(a)n / ta'anoka(y), polite contextual anaphora ne'an / ne'okay, and contextual anaphora neya / neeroh. (Murasaki 2025: 11) tanoka(y) is a demonstrative meaning 'these'. (Murasaki 2025: 68) Adnominals precede and modify nouns, and they comprise demonstrative adnominals and numeral adnominals. (Murasaki 2025: 101) Compound demonstrative adnominals can be formed in combination with 'an or 'okay, such as nah'an, nah'oka, 'ene'an, and 'ene'oka. (Murasaki 2025: 101) The adnominal tanan 'this' is virtually restricted to fixed expressions such as tanan to 'today' or tanan aynu 'this person', and is used almost exclusively in verse. (Nakagawa 2024: 284) The demonstrative tapan : tapoka(y) means 'this', accompanied by an emphatic nuance. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 284) The adnominal demonstrative toanúka means 'those (plural)', whereas toan is its singular form meaning 'that'. (Satō 2008: 60) The expressions taan kur and tan kur (literally 'this person') can be used idiomatically as a second-person honorific expression addressed by a wife to her husband. (Satō 2008: 216) When taan kur or tan kur is used by a wife to address her husband, the predicate verb either agrees in the third person or takes a second-person honorific personal affix. (Satō 2008: 216) Unlike Japanese 'anata', the second-person usage of taan kur and tan kur can only be used toward one's husband. (Satō 2008: 216) Both tan and taan are adnominal demonstratives referring to things close to the speaker, but tan has a nuance of being closer to the speaker ('right beside') than taan. (Satō 2008: 217) The demonstrative toan is used for entities distant from both the speaker and the hearer. (Satō 2008: 217) To refer to an entity near the hearer, either taan or toan is used depending on whether the speaker perceives it as close or far. (proposed in Satō 2008: 218) The plural forms of taan and toan are taanúka and toanúka, respectively, and when followed by pe 'thing' they become taanúkay pe and toanúkay pe. (Satō 2008: 218) Although speakers have uttered tanuka when asked about a plural form of tan, no actual attested examples of tanuka in context have been found so far. (Satō 2008: 218) A demonstrative precedes the noun it modifies in Ainu. (Shibatani 1990: 24)
Anaphoric and recognitional demonstratives
How do the anaphoric prenominals ne, nea, and newaan function, and why are they not used for pointing?
The root ne appears in expressions of anaphoric reference meaning 'the aforementioned thing or way' or 'the said matter or way'. (Refsing 1986: 95) The root ne forms part of nean pe ('the aforementioned thing') and can also be used adverbially either by itself or reinforced by koraci to mean 'in this or the aforementioned way'. (Refsing 1986: 95) The manner adverb ene functions anaphorically and is probably derived from the demonstrative root ne. (proposed in Refsing 1986) The distal demonstrative derivative too can function as an anaphoric genitive adnoun referring back to an antecedent adjunct that serves as the possessor or attributive modifier of a new noun. (Refsing 1986) The forms nean, neoka, ne, nee, nehe, and too function as anaphoric adnouns in Shizunai Ainu. (Refsing 1986: 155) Nominal demonstratives are not used for an anaphoric or cataphoric function. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The anaphoric demonstrative ne 'this' (< copula ne) precedes the noun referring to the person or thing being discussed at present. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The forms ne wa an (singular) and ne wa oka (plural) mean 'just exactly that'. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The forms néa (singular) and nérok (plural) mean 'that' and remind the listener of someone or something that came up earlier in the conversation. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The forms ikia (singular) and ikirok (plural) mean 'that' and refer to a person or animal that did something previously. (reported in Bugaeva 2012: 472–473) The demonstrative ne has no spatial directional pointing meaning, but functions like a definite article referring retrospectively to something previously mentioned. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The demonstrative ne is used for both singular and plural, but differentiated forms have also developed: né-a / né-an for singular and né-rok / né-okai for plural. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Because ne cannot be nominalized directly, nominalized forms are built on its differentiated forms, such as néa-p / néan-pe (singular) and nérok-pe / néokai-pe (plural). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) -a (plural -rok) attached to modifiers (such as in ne-a / ne-rok) is originally this same element a. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) To refer to an aforementioned thing in discourse, newaanpe is used more frequently than neap. (Nakagawa 2024: 287) The combination of nea with the formal noun hi (nea hi) is not very frequently attested. (Nakagawa 2024: 288) In dialects that use ikia or nean, the fused pronominal forms ikiap and neanpe, respectively, are used to mean 'that thing / the aforementioned one'. (Nakagawa 2024: 288) The particle ne functions as an anaphoric demonstrative, which Chiri described as a word feeling similar to a definite article. (Refsing 1986: 27) The root ne forms the proximal anaphoric adnouns ne, nee, and nehe ('this...'). (Refsing 1986) The root ne forms the anaphoric adnouns nean (singular) and neoka (plural), meaning 'that/those...'. (Refsing 1986) The root ne can form part of an anaphoric adnoun, yielding ne, nee, and nehe 'this...', and nean (singular) and neoka (plural) 'that/those...'. (Refsing 1986) Grammatically, the anaphoric genitive too is an adnoun. (Refsing 1986) The anaphoric root morpheme ne and the interrogative root morpheme ne may share a common historical origin, and they are also homonymous with the copula ne. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 111) The adnominal demonstratives néa and ne are used anaphorically/contextually to refer to an entity that has already been mentioned in the discourse. (Satō 2008: 218) The nominal form corresponding to contextual néa and ne is likely ne wa an pe, though examples are few. (proposed in Satō 2008: 218) The plural form of néa appears to be nérok, though so far only a single example has been attested. (proposed in Satō 2008: 219) The complex expression ne wa an pe functions as a cohesive unit meaning 'that / it', analyzable as ne 'be so' + wa 'and' + an 'be' + pe 'thing'. (Satō 2008: 296)
Demonstrative pronouns
How are demonstrative pronouns derived from prenominals with the nominalizer -pe, and when does the suffix appear as -p?
The demonstrative too sometimes carries the special nuance of emphasizing a subsequent stative verb as being of an amazing degree. (Refsing 1986: 99) The demonstrative pronouns referring to a thing, event, matter, or person are proximal taan pe, distal singular toon pe, and distal plural tooka pe. (Refsing 1986) The demonstrative adverb taa means 'in this way'. (Refsing 1986: 99) The demonstrative adverb taa may be reinforced by the comparative nominalizer koraci ('manner, way'). (Refsing 1986: 99) The demonstrative adverb too means 'in that way', 'thus', or 'such'. (Refsing 1986: 99) In sentence-initial position, taa and too may function like interjections meaning 'there now!' or 'well!'. (Refsing 1986: 99) The demonstrative pronoun taan pe means 'this/these thing(s)/matter(s)/event(s)'. (Refsing 1986: 99) The demonstrative pronoun toon pe means 'that thing/matter/event' or 'that person'. (Refsing 1986: 101) The demonstrative pronoun taan pe covers both singular and plural reference. (Refsing 1986: 101) The demonstrative pronoun toon pe has a plural form tooka pe, which consists of the demonstrative root to, the plural existential verb oka, and the nominalizer pe. (Refsing 1986: 101) When toon pe or tooka pe are used to refer to persons, the reference is derogatory. (Refsing 1986: 101) Polite reference to distal persons uses toon or tooka with nispa or katkemat, whereas neutral reference uses toon kur. (Refsing 1986: 101) The neutral expression toon kur lacks a plural equivalent, and *tooka kur is not attested in Shizunai material. (Refsing 1986: 101) Demonstrative pronouns are divided into proximal te 'here', medial ta 'there', and distal to 'over there'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The medial and distal demonstrative pronouns are used as adverbs as they are. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Demonstrative pronouns are formed by attaching the nominalizing suffix (formal noun) -pe or -h to demonstrative adnominals such as tan 'this' and tara 'that'. (Murasaki 2025: 13) tah and tampe both serve as demonstratives meaning 'this'. (Murasaki 2025: 68) tanokaype is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'these things'. (Murasaki 2025: 68) Attaching the formal nouns -h or -pe ('thing') to adnominals derives demonstrative pronouns and nominal forms of numerals. (Murasaki 2025: 101) The proximal adverb of manner is taa, and the distal adverb of manner is too. (Refsing 1986) The plural demonstrative form tooka pe mainly refers to persons. (Refsing 1986: 101) Tooka pe is generally pronounced [tookajpe]. (Refsing 1986: 101) When occurring independently, the instrumental particle ari 'with X' and the delimiting particle patek 'only X' function as demonstratives meaning 'with that' and 'only that'. (reported in Shibatani 1990: 40)
Locative roots and case-marked forms
Which demonstrative roots act as locative nouns taking case particles, and how do they differ from prenominal modifiers?
In Shizunai Ainu, the demonstrative adverbs of place are proximal taan ta and distal toon ta. (Refsing 1986) In Shizunai Ainu, taan ta functions as a proximal locative adverb meaning 'here'. (Refsing 1986: 101) In Shizunai Ainu, toon ta functions as a distal locative adverb meaning 'there'. (Refsing 1986: 101) Demonstrative pronouns are also used as adverbs by affixing -ta and -un. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The particle ta was originally a medial demonstrative pronoun meaning 'there'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) ta and tap were originally medial demonstrative pronouns that shifted to locative particles, and subsequently became interjection particles. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Adnominals can directly precede a case particle, as in toan ta 'over there'. (Nakagawa 2024: 283) The word tani 'here', formed from tan and the formal noun hi, appears to be restricted to set phrases such as toni un (wa) tani un (wa) 'hither and thither'. (Nakagawa 2024: 288) Constructions where a case particle directly follows an adnominal (such as taan ta 'here') are historically contractions of adnominal plus the formal noun hi followed by the particle (e.g. *taan hi ta > taani ta > taan ta). (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 288)
The Shizunai demonstrative grid and dialect variation
How does the Shizunai dialect organize demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite forms into a systematic paradigm?
In the Shizunai dialect, the demonstrative system distinguishes only proximal and distal, lacking the tripartite proximal-mesial-distal distinction reported by Chiri. (Refsing 1986: 27) The two morphemes expressing the proximal versus distal distinction in Shizunai are identical to the morphemes listed by Chiri for mesial and distal deictics. (Refsing 1986: 27) Southern Hokkaido Ainu has a three-term deictic system of nominal demonstratives consisting of two proximate terms and one distal term. (reported in Bugaeva 2012: 470–471) Sakhalin Ainu adnominal demonstratives basically have a two-way spatial distinction between proximal (close to the speaker) and distal (far from the speaker), without distinguishing between Japanese 'sono' and 'ano'. (Murasaki 2025: 11) In the Saru dialect, the demonstrative adnominals taan, toan, nea, and newaan have distinct plural forms taoka(y), tooka(y), nerok, and newaoka(y), respectively. (Nakagawa 2024: 283) The demonstrative adnominal tanuka 'these' is reported for the Saru dialect by Tamura (1988a), but actual attestations are extremely few. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 283) The plural form tanoka(y) corresponding to tanan has very few attestations outside Sakhalin dialects. (Nakagawa 2024: 284) Across dialects, toan and toon 'that (distal)' vary: Saru uses toon less frequently than toan, Chitose uses both frequently, the Ishikari river basin lacks toon, and Obihiro apparently does not use toan. (Nakagawa 2024: 285) In dialects from Shizunai eastward, the adnominal ikia (plural ikirok) is used with a meaning similar to nea, whereas in Saru it is used rarely. (Nakagawa 2024: 285) Outside Saru and Chitose, the form nean is used in a similar anaphoric sense to nea; it is predominantly nean in Tokachi and Kushiro, while both nea and nean are common in Horobetsu, Shizunai, and Ishikari. (Nakagawa 2024: 285) In Shizunai, the deictic place demonstratives are proximal taanta 'here' and distal toonta 'there', while the interrogative is neyta 'where', and indefinites include neytaka 'somewhere' and neykeka 'somewhere inside'. (Refsing 1986: 109) In Shizunai, adnominal demonstratives include anaphoric nean (singular), neoka (plural), and number-unmarked ne/nee/nebe, genitive too 'its', proximal taan/tan 'this/these', distal toon/ton 'that' and tooka 'those', and interrogative neun 'which'. (Refsing 1986: 109)