Knowledge base · Part XX — Diachrony, Reconstruction, and Dialectology · this topic as a network
158. Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
How do internal reconstruction and grammaticalization pathways together illuminate the prehistory of Ainu, given its status as a language isolate?
The scope and tools of internal reconstruction
What methods can reconstruct Ainu prehistory without related languages, and what role does each play?
In all dialects of Ainu, the greeting irankarapte is pronounced with [ran] and never with [ram], and while it is segmentable into i-, -te, and the verb rankarap 'greet', rankarap cannot be further decomposed based on current evidence. (Nakagawa 2024: 47) The forms car and par 'mouth' are analyzed as being formed from the stems ca- and pa- plus or 'inside (of)'. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.5)
The affiliative suffix -(V)hV: two accounts
How does the affiliative suffix -(V)hV pattern, and what two reconstructions account for its vowel alternations?
The evidential nominals: sensory nouns to clause-final markers
How did the evidential clause-final markers develop from possessed sensory nouns?
The visual perception nominalizer sir(i) grammaticalized from the noun sir(i) meaning 'appearance (of surroundings)'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7) The non-visual sensory nominalizer hum(i) grammaticalized from the noun hum(i) meaning 'audio or physical perception'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7) The vocal-perception nominalizer haw(e) grammaticalized from the noun haw(e) meaning 'voice'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7) The evidential nominalizer ru(we) grammaticalized from the noun ru(we) meaning 'road, trace'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7) In the Horobetsu dialect, nominalizers underwent grammaticalization into adverbial clause markers meaning 'since' or 'though'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.7)
Free verbs grammaticalized as bound suffixes
Which free verbs became bound derivational suffixes in Ainu, and what pathway did they follow?
The verb ani 'to hold' grammaticalized into the instrumental marker 'with; by'. (Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.3) The noun kusu 'reason' grammaticalized into the causal conjunction 'because; due to'. (Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.3) The copula ne grammaticalized from the anaphoric pronoun ne. (Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.3) The logophoric system of Ainu developed through the grammaticalization of non-singular inclusive markers. (Bugaeva 2008) The positional turasi originates in the comitative tura 'together with', which itself goes back to a transitive verb meaning 'follow'. (Refsing 1986: 169) The etymology of indefinite an-/-an, and probably of a- as well, overlaps with that of the existential verb an. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 218)
Aspectual an and the posture-verb pathway
What is the lexical source of existential/aspectual an, and how does suppletion corroborate that origin?
The Pan-Ainu singular verb a and plural verb rok 'to sit down' grammaticalized into durative or perfective markers. (Alonso de la Fuente 2022: 5.3)
The nominalizers -p/-pe and the cep case
What nominal source underlies the nominalizers -p/-pe, and how did it grammaticalize as a suffix?
Nominalization in Ainu developed from zero-nominalization through added nominalizing words to Sakhalin possessive-marked nominalization and its independent main-clause use. (proposed in Bugaeva 2016) The Sakhalin Ainu v-poss nominalization is hypothesized to have originated in adverbial clauses containing the copula ne(e). (proposed in Bugaeva 2016) The nominalizing suffix -i and the construct suffix -hV ~ -V(hV) in Ainu are likely to derive from the generic noun *hi. (Nam 2021)
Layering, renewal, and what the dialect record shows
How do dialect differences reveal layering and renewal along the same grammaticalization cline?
According to Nakagawa (1988), asinuma appeared in response to the reanalysis of verbs with non-singular affixation as singular forms. (reported in Bugaeva 2012: 474–475) hine has been analyzed etymologically as the nominalizer hi followed by the copula ne. (reported in Refsing 1986: 242) Akus is supported etymologically as a combination of the durative auxiliary a and the consequential conjunctionalizer kusu. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 248) Konno is possibly an etymological combination of the verb kor 'have' and a coordinative conjunctionalizer. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 248) The ka of korka can be analyzed historically as the restrictive postposition ka added to kor, the contemporal conjunctionalizer found in dialects such as Saru. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 258)
Classifier relics — a cautionary assessment
What evidence for earlier classifier relics in noun-final consonants has been suggested, and why is it uncertain?
Earlier stages of Ainu likely possessed a larger system of verbal appositive classifiers in possessive constructions than recent varieties. (proposed in Bugaeva 2022: 1.5) An earlier set of classificatory verbs in Ainu is hypothesized to have specified semantic domains such as hunting, animal raising, food preparation, clothing, houses, and functional objects. (proposed in Bugaeva, Nichols & Bickel 2022) Earlier specific verbal classifiers in possessive constructions were replaced historically by the verb kor 'have', collapsing multiple alienable classes into a single class. (proposed in Bugaeva, Nichols & Bickel 2022) The kor construction is undergoing a transition from dependent-marking to head-marking as the verb kor cliticizes to the head noun. (Bugaeva, Nichols & Bickel 2022)