Knowledge base · Part XX — Diachrony, Reconstruction, and Dialectology · this topic as a network
159. Hokkaido Dialect Classification and Dialectometry
How are Hokkaido Ainu dialects classified based on geographic variation and statistical analyses?
The Hokkaido dialect system
What patterns of continuous variation and discrete isoglosses define Hokkaido Ainu dialect classification?
The Ainu language is primarily divided on geographical grounds into three regional dialect groups: Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril. (Bugaeva 2016; reported in Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.2) Ainu is broadly divided into Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril dialects, with Hokkaido further divided into Northern, Northeastern, Southwestern, and Southeastern subdialects. (reported in Satō 2008: 6) The Hokkaido dialect group is normally subdivided into southern and eastern groupings. (Shibatani 1990: 6) The differences among Hokkaido dialects are said to be more phonological and lexical in nature than grammatical. (reported in Shibatani 1990: 6) The Ishikari dialect differs slightly from Kindaichi's and Chiri's colloquial grammars, which are based on southern dialects centering around the Hidaka region. (Shibatani 1990)
The founding lexicostatistic study
How was lexical similarity measured across Ainu dialects using a word list and cognacy scoring?
According to Hattori's lexicostatistic analysis, the Sōya dialect is relatively distant from other Hokkaido dialects and is the Hokkaido dialect closest to Sakhalin. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 105, Shibatani 1990: 6) According to Hattori and Chiri (1960), a significant statistical gap exists between the Samani dialect and the Niikappu, Piratori, Nukibetsu, and Horobetsu dialects, while Samani shows a closer relationship to the Obihiro and Kushiro dialects. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 105) The basic vocabulary of the Sōya dialect displays similarities to Sakhalin dialects, but overall the dialect is grouped with eastern Hokkaido Ainu. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.6) According to Hattori, some Hokkaido dialects form subgroups that are closer to each other, such as Yakumo and Oshamambe; Nukkibetsu, Hiratori, and Niikappu; and Obihiro, Kushiro, and Bihoro. (reported in Shibatani 1990: 6) According to Hattori, a considerable gap is seen between Samani on the one hand and Niikappu, Hiratori, Nukkibetsu, and Horobetsu on the other. (reported in Shibatani 1990: 8) According to Hattori, Samani is lexicostatistically rather close to Obihiro and Kushiro. (reported in Shibatani 1990: 8)
Asai 1974 and the three-way Major Division
How did cluster analysis of lexical data divide Hokkaido Ainu into dialect zones?
Asai (1974) proposed a classification dividing Ainu into Hokkaido (North, East, Central/South, East/Southeast), Sakhalin (North, Central, South), and Kuril dialect groupings. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 106, Refsing 1986: 52) The Chitose dialect belongs to a southern subgroup of the Southwestern Hokkaido Ainu group. (Bugaeva 2022: 20.1) In Asai's (1974a) cluster analysis, Sakhalin Ainu branches off first from a combined Hokkaido-Kuril grouping, and within Hokkaido, the Northeast and Eastern Hokkaido group appears closer to Kuril Ainu. (Nakagawa 2024: 106)
Tamura's Northeast–Southwest bipartition
How does Tamura's classification divide Hokkaido Ainu into two zones using morphology and particles?
Hokkaido Ainu has two main dialect divisions: Southwestern Hokkaido (HSW) and Northeastern Hokkaido (HNE). (Bugaeva 2014) Major linguistic distinctions exist between the Southwestern and Northeastern groups of Hokkaido Ainu dialects. (Bugaeva 2016) Between the northeastern and southwestern dialects of Hokkaido, differences in vocabulary, phonology, and word formation are found, but no major grammatical differences exist. (reported in Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.2)
Classification traditions compared
How do different classification traditions for Hokkaido Ainu compare?
The dialect boundary between Southwestern and Southeastern Hokkaido lies between Shizunai and Niikappu. (Satō 2008: 6)
Person-marking type
How does transitive verb person marking differ between Saru/Chitose and other Hokkaido Ainu dialects?
Particles and grammatical words
How do grammatical particles, such as the allative, vary across Hokkaido Ainu dialects?
The Saru–Chitose group and its standing
How is the Saru–Chitose group defined and how does it relate to other Hokkaido Ainu dialects?
The Saru and Chitose dialects exhibit a few grammatical features that are unrepresentative of Ainu as a whole. (reported in Majewicz 2022: 4.5) The dialects of eastern Hidaka from Shizunai eastward differ in language and customs from western Hidaka including the Saru region. (Nakagawa 2024: 95) There is a widely acknowledged linguistic and cultural divide between eastern Hidaka (Menas un kur) and western Hidaka (Sum un kur), with the boundary drawn roughly between Shizunai and Niikappu. (Nakagawa 2024: 107) Eastern Hidaka dialects are not homogeneous: the Shizunai dialect differs considerably from Urakawa and Samani dialects, and also displays large differences among speakers within Shizunai itself. (Nakagawa 2024: 107) Saru dialect is very similar to Chitose dialect, although there are some differences between them. (Satō 2008)
The Sakhalin and Kuril branches as comparative benchmarks
How are Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu used as benchmarks for Hokkaido dialect classification?
Sakhalin dialects can be roughly divided into east and west coast groups, and Hokkaido dialects into northeastern and southwestern groups. (Bugaeva 2012) Both Hokkaido and Sakhalin Ainu can be divided into numerous subgroups. (Refsing 1986: 52)
Coverage and the Hokkaido documentary record
What are the documented limitations of the lexical data used for Hokkaido Ainu dialect classification?
The Shizunai dialect is representative of the Eastern dialects of Hokkaido Ainu. (Refsing 1986: 50) The Shizunai dialect is situated on the borderline between southern Hokkaido and eastern Hokkaido, but is reported to be closer to eastern dialects than to southern dialects. (reported in Refsing 1986: 54)