Knowledge base · Part XX — Diachrony, Reconstruction, and Dialectology · this topic as a network
160. Hokkaido Dialect Microvariation: Phonology and Morphosyntax
How do Hokkaido Ainu dialects vary in phonology and morphosyntax, and how are these microvariations distributed geographically?
Overview
What phonological differences among surveyed Hokkaido Ainu localities cross-cut or align with the northeast/southwest dialect division?
The transitive subject prefix a- is reported only in a relatively restricted area including Iburi, western Hidaka, Tokachi, Yoichi, and Shakotan, whereas an- is reported across a wide area including the rest of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kurils. (reported in Satō 2004)
The Yakumo–Oshamambe irregular type
How does pitch placement in Yakumo and Oshamambe Ainu differ from the standard type when both first and second syllables are open?
Consonant microvariation
What consonant alternations, including sibilant variation and coda treatment, distinguish Hokkaido Ainu dialects from one another?
The verb meaning 'to come' is ek across dialects, corresponding to eh in Sakhalin Ainu. (Nakagawa 2024: 108)
Word-initial h-elision
In which Hokkaido Ainu dialects is word-initial h elided, and under what accent conditions does the elision occur?
In the Urakawa and Samani dialects, an initial h- is frequently added before words that begin with a vowel in other dialects, as seen in Samani hekimun 'toward the mountains'. (Nakagawa 2024: 279) In the Ishikari, Tokachi, and Eastern Hokkaido dialects, initial h drops from he-/ho- directional adverbs, producing forms starting with e- and o- such as erepasi 'offshore'. (Nakagawa 2024: 279) In the Tokachi dialect, the form ene corresponds to hene. (Nakagawa 2024: 324)
Regressive cluster assimilation
What regressive assimilation processes affect heterorganic consonant clusters at morpheme junctions in northeastern Hokkaido Ainu dialects?
In dialects such as Eastern Hidaka, Tokachi, and Eastern Hokkaido (Kushiro, Shiranuka, Bihoro), word-internal stop clusters like -tk-, -pk-, and -kt- show regressive assimilation historically (e.g., hotke → hokke, popke → pokke, rikta → ritta). (Nakagawa 2024: 36)
The pa-:ca- alternation
How do Hokkaido Ainu dialects distribute pa- and ca- forms in words such as 'mouth' and 'lip'?
Root-initial pa- in southwestern (western) Hokkaido dialects corresponds to ca- in northeastern (eastern) Hokkaido dialects across a set of lexical items. (Nakagawa 2024: 110, Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.3) In northern dialects, p changes to ch. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In southern dialects, the change from p to ch is found only in the single word san-pa > san-cha 'shore'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The set of forms meaning 'mouth' includes par, car, cara, and caru. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.2)
Metathesis: -iw and -uy
How do Bihoro and Kushiro Ainu transpose the sequences -iw and -uy relative to forms found in other dialects?
Having -uy where other dialects have -iw is a characteristic sound alternation (metathesis) found especially in Bihoro and Kushiro. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.3)
Other consonant alternations: y/w and n/m
What consonant alternations involving y/w and n/m are documented in Hokkaido Ainu dialects, and where do they occur?
In dialects other than Saru and Chitose, the form erampetek is used instead of erampewtek. (Nakagawa 2024: 315) In Hattori and Chiri (1960), tu appears as cu in the Samani dialect, though this may represent speaker idiolect. (reported in Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.6)
Vowel alternations
What vowel-pair alternations occur across Hokkaido Ainu dialects, and how are they distributed geographically?
While the Saru and Chitose dialects clearly distinguish yayrayke 'commit suicide' from yairayke 'thank', some dialects merge both forms into yayrayke without distinction. (Nakagawa 2024: 42) In the Tokachi dialect, the form monoa is contracted to mona and simply means 'to sit'. (Nakagawa 2024: 493)
-ay elision and eastern particle extension
In which Hokkaido Ainu dialects does final -ay elide in forms like okay and ciokay, and what is the scope of the rule?
In the Tokachi dialect, ruwe tapan takes the form ru tapan. (Nakagawa 2024: 401) sittapan is sometimes heard as sitapan, with no difference in usage. (Nakagawa 2024: 402) The form estap, used in sentence-final phrases like ru estap an, is found in dialects such as Shiranuka but is especially prominent in the Tokachi dialect. (Nakagawa 2024: 403) In the Tokachi dialect, the secondary particles etap and tap also appear within sentence-final phrases. (Nakagawa 2024: 403) The particle etap occurs in Shiranuka and Shizunai dialects, and appears as hetap in other dialects, deriving etymologically from interrogative he plus emphatic tap. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 403) Using etap within sentence-final phrases is a usage unique to the Tokachi dialect. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 403)
Isogloss geography and the dialect divisions
How do overlapping isoglosses in Hokkaido Ainu correspond to the northeast/southwest dialect bipartition?
Dialectal differences exist within Shizunai Ainu between coastal speech and inland speech separated by about twenty kilometers. (reported in Majewicz 2022: 4.5; proposed in Refsing 1986: 65) The conjunctions pokor and apkor are used in Iburi, while pekor and apekor are used in Hidaka, to mean 'as if' ('...ka no gotoku'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The Saru dialect dictionary notes that -kosanu is used upriver from Nibutani, whereas -kosanpa is used by speakers downstream, suggesting a dialectal difference within the Saru dialect. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 204) Whereas the allative case particle un is restricted to western Hokkaido, the adnominal case particle un is distributed in the same form throughout all Hokkaido. (Nakagawa 2024: 301) While other case particles are uniform across dialects, allative case particles show significant dialectal variation in Hokkaido, dividing into un (western Hidaka and westward), en (eastern Hidaka to Tokachi), and (e)ne (eastern Hokkaido and Ishikari). (Nakagawa 2024: 302) There are morphological differences between the Ishikari dialect and the dialect(s) of central-south Hokkaidō described by Chiri. (Refsing 1986) The Saru (Piratori) dialect and the Shizunai dialect differ considerably despite their close geographical proximity. (Refsing 1986) Eastern and northern Hokkaido dialects, Obihiro, Bihoro, Nayoro, Sōya, and Sakhalin have tek or tekka meaning 'after (doing A, to do B)'. (reported in Refsing 1986: 246)