Knowledge base · Part X — The Personal-Affix System and Alignment · this topic as a network

68. Honorific and Logophoric Uses of the Fourth Person

What are the honorific and logophoric uses of the fourth person in Hokkaido Ainu?

The honorific and logophoric functions in the fourth-person system

What affix paradigm is shared by the honorific, logophoric, inclusive, and indefinite uses of the fourth person?

In the colloquial register, Class II division i verbs express the third person honorific by suffixing -pa in the singular (itak-pa) and reduplicating or double-suffixing -pa-pa in the plural (itak(-pa)-pa). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) When speaking with an elder, young speakers of Karafuto Ainu use an-/-an as first-person affixes, functioning as a kind of honorific language. (Tangiku 2022: 9.7) Murasaki (1979) claims that the first-person singular use of fourth person affixes is found in elder-to-younger, elder-to-elder, and younger-to-elder utterances. (reported in Tangiku 2022: 9.7)

Honorific address to an exalted second person

How does the fourth person mark honorific address to an exalted second person?

The second-person honorific category is rejected as a distinct pronominal category in the Shizunai dialect and is subsumed under the indefinite person affix. (Refsing 1986: 24) In the Shizunai dialect, persons toward whom respect is directed are rarely addressed with a pronominal affix, but are instead designated by a noun indicating their status. (Refsing 1986: 218) Expressions of respect in Ainu are created by obscuring the agent, either through the plural form of the verb or by using the indefinite pronominal affix. (Refsing 1986: 218) In the Shizunai dialect, the indefinite person affix an- is used to express the second-person honorific. (Refsing 1986) In spoken Hokkaido Ainu, when addressing a second person honorifically, a first-person subject acting on a second-person object uses ku-i- (singular subject) or chi-i- (plural subject), or in Iburi i-...-ash. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In the colloquial register, Class II division i verbs express the second person honorific by the suffix -an (singular itak-an, plural itak(-pa)-an). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) When the fourth person is used as an honorific second person, the verb takes the plural form even if the addressee is a single individual. (Nakagawa 2024: 176) The honorific fourth person is often used by women to adult men, and by humans to kamuy in prayer language. (Nakagawa 2024: 176) In prayers, kamuy are not always addressed in the fourth person; depending on the situation and the identity of the addressee, the ordinary second person is also used. (Nakagawa 2024: 176) Using the fourth person instead of the second person as an honorific for the addressee is basically used by women when speaking to adult men, whereas men do not use it to women and use it only in limited circumstances to other men, making frequent use of this construction sound more feminine. (Nakagawa 2024) In the Tokachi (Obihiro) dialect, anokay is used as an honorific referring to one person, and anutari is used as an honorific referring to two or more persons, both being grammatically plural forms. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 530) In the Ishikari dialect, the second-person plural is used as the ordinary honorific for the second person (e.g., when a woman speaks to an ordinary man), while the indefinite/fourth person is used as the highest honorific (e.g., when a wife speaks to her husband). (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 530) In the Shizunai dialect, honorific expressions are rare and convey respect through vagueness or avoidance, using plurality and the indefinite pronominal affix to avoid directly naming a superior. (Refsing 1986) When a speaker wishes to use a pronominal affix for the second person while showing respect, the indefinite pronominal affix must be used. (Refsing 1986: 218) The second-person honorific transitive subjective personal affix is a-. (Satō 2008: 30) The second-person honorific intransitive subjective personal affix is -an. (Satō 2008: 30) The second-person honorific objective personal affix is i- 'you (sg./pl., honorific)'. (Satō 2008: 32) The prefix a-, while originally an inclusive first-person plural transitive subject marker, is also used as an honorific second-person singular subject marker ('you'), primarily by women toward men. (Satō 2008: 133) To explicitly express respect toward the addressee, second-person honorific personal affixes identical in form to the indefinite person (a- for transitive subjects, -an for intransitive subjects) can be used for both singular and plural addressees. (Satō 2008: 210) Honorific expressions using a- and -an are typically used by adult women toward adult men, and their range of application is relatively narrow compared to Japanese anata. (Satō 2008: 211) In Colloquial Ainu, the inclusive forms of the first-person plural are used as second-person honorific forms for both singular and plural. (Shibatani 1990) The second-person honorific in the Saru dialect has the pronoun 'a'oká, nominative affixes 'a- and -'án, and objective affix 'i-, and it is grammatically treated as plural even when referring to one person. (Tamura 1972: 28) A woman uses the second-person honorific when addressing an adult male no matter how worthless he may be, except that a mother to her own son or an older sister to her younger brother continues to use second-person singular forms even after he grows up. (Tamura 1972: 28) A younger sister addressing her adult older brother, or a daughter addressing her father, uses the second-person honorific forms. (Tamura 1972: 29) When the addressee is female, the second-person singular form is used toward younger sister, older sister, and mother alike. (Tamura 1972: 29) In the Ishikari dialect, 'esokáy (plural, affix 'es-) and 'anokáy (plural, affixes 'an-, -'án; 'i-) can be used for a single addressee, whereas in the Saru dialect 'eci'oká (corresponding to 'esokáy) does not have such an honorific usage. (Tamura 1972: 30) The second-person honorific pronoun 'a'oká is used by women when speaking to men. (Tamura 1972)

The narrator's fourth person in oral literature

How does the fourth person function as the self-reference device for the protagonist in oral narratives?

In Southern Hokkaido folklore texts, such as uwepeker ('prosaic folktales') and yukar ('heroic epics'), the indefinite person refers to the protagonist within the quote. (Bugaeva 2008) In Sakhalin Ainu elderly speech, the first-person plural affix 'an=/='an is used to refer to first-person singular. (Murasaki 2025: 27)

Logophoric reference in reported speech

How does the fourth person mark logophoric self-reference in reported speech?

In South Hokkaido dialects, the inclusive affixes and inclusive pronoun aoka are commonly used in logophoric function in quotational contexts. (Bugaeva 2006: 185) Logophoric markers are used in colloquial speech in the Central Hokkaido dialect of Asahikawa. (Bugaeva 2008) The use of logophoric markers in folktales is triggered by logophoric contexts because folktales are a form of reported speech. (Bugaeva 2008) Logophoric markers may be used with third- or second-person singular or plural referents. (Bugaeva 2008) Logophoric markers are not used with first-person referents. (Bugaeva 2008) Logophoric marking can mark participants in S/A, O, and possessor functions within the quote. (Bugaeva 2008) Ainu does not employ logophoric markers to mark the coreferentiality of the author with a participant in the quote in indirect reported discourse. (Bugaeva 2008) Ainu employs logophoric markers to mark the coreferentiality of the author with a participant in the quote in semi-direct reported discourse. (Bugaeva 2008) According to Tamura (1988/2000), in Southern Hokkaido Ainu dialects, the use of the fourth/logophoric person in quotes is obligatory when a third- or second-person original speaker is coreferential with a participant in the quote. (reported in Bugaeva 2008) In kamuy yukar, the discourse of non-protagonist characters is often cast as semi-reported discourse (SRD), where they are referred to with logophoric markers from the reporter's perspective. (Bugaeva 2008) The use of the indefinite person to index an original speaker in quotation constructions is logophoric, functioning as a dedicated form to refer to the quoted speaker. (proposed in Bugaeva 2008) The logophoric use of the indefinite person is common in folktales because they have the structure of reported discourse. (Bugaeva 2015: 46) In direct quotations in the Saru dialect, words spoken by a third party undergo a person shift from first person to fourth person within the quotation ('quoted speaker person'). (Nakagawa 2024: 470) When a speaker quotes their own words, the first-person to fourth-person shift inside the quotation does not occur, and first person is retained. (Nakagawa 2024: 471) The quoted speaker person shift (third-person speaker quoted in fourth person) is also attested in the Chitose dialect. (Nakagawa 2024: 472)