Knowledge base · Part VI — Word Classes and Nominal Morphology · this topic as a network
37. The 'No Adjective Class' Thesis: Property Concepts as Stative Verbs
How does Hokkaido Ainu encode property concepts like 'big' and 'good'?
The adjectival suffix -an, originally a verb meaning 'to exist', forms adjectives from nouns and derives demonstrative and interrogative adjectives from pronouns (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). From body-part and related nouns, the suffix -ash forms adjectives that describe physical or personal attributes (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Historically, the adjectival suffix -ush represents the plural of -un (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The suffix -o, originally a verb meaning 'to be inside' or 'to be attached to', forms adjectives from nouns (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The suffix -nu attaches to nouns with the meaning 'abundant in' and attaches to -ash adjectives to intensify their meaning (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Originally a verb meaning 'to be', the suffix -ne developed from expressing '-shaped' or 'like...' into a widely used adjectival suffix (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The suffix -kor, originally a verb meaning 'to have', derives adjectives indicating possession of a quality or feature (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Privative adjectives are formed by -sak, which was originally a verb meaning 'to lack' (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Historically, the suffix -nak is derived from -sak (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The suffix -ke derives adjectives from noun roots or onomatopoetic stems (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In deriving adjectives from verbs, the suffix -no adds the meaning 'well' or 'proficiently' (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The suffix -ko attaches to adjectives to convey an opposite meaning (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Functioning as an adjective ending, -ma appears in tuima 'distant', ramma 'constant', and moshma 'other' (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The ending -tek forms property verbs or adjectives, as in kuttek 'black', sattek 'thin, emaciated', rettek 'decrepit, aged', and yautek 'cooled down' (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936).
generated 14 claims, 3 sentences without a claim ·
Overview
What grammatical class do property words belong to in Hokkaido Ainu?
Ainu lacks an independent word class of adjectives, and concepts corresponding to adjectives are classified as intransitive verbs. (Bugaeva 2012: 470–471, Bugaeva 2015: 43, Murasaki 2025: 90, Nakagawa 2024: 117, 124, Refsing 1986, Satō 2008: 2) Ainu lacks an independent adjective word class; concepts corresponding to adjectives are expressed by intransitive verbs. (Bugaeva 2014) Adjectives have an attributive use and a predicative use. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Forms corresponding semantically to adjectives in other languages are treated as a subset of intransitive verbs, and 'adjectives' are not recognized as a separate word class. (Refsing 1986: 77)
The standard analysis: three lines of evidence
What three lines of evidence support classifying property words as verbs?
Adjectives lack an imperative form, which functions as the only morphological and functional distinction separating them from verbs. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936; reported in Refsing 1986) Ainu lacks a separate word class of adjectives, and property concepts such as pirka 'good' and pon 'small' are intransitive relative clause predicates. (Bugaeva, Nichols & Bickel 2022) Words with adjective-like meanings are placed directly in predicate position without a copula. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2) Words with adjective-like meanings modify nouns by preceding them with no morphological change, identically to verbs. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2) Recognizing an independent adjective class in Ainu is inappropriate because property-concept words show only minuscule differences from 1-valence verbs. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2) There are no formal or distributional differences between 'adjectives' and intransitive verbs in Ainu, as both can occur in attributive and predicate position without change in form. (Refsing 1986: 140) Words traditionally classified as adjectives exhibit no formal or distributional differences from intransitive verbs, and both may occur in attributive and predicate positions without changes in form. (Refsing 1986: 140) In Ainu grammar, property words such as méan 'be cold' are considered a type of verb, despite corresponding to adjectives in Japanese. (Satō 2008: 3) Property-concept words corresponding to adjectives function as predicates in the same manner as intransitive verbs, sharing personal affixes and adnominal modification syntax. (Shibatani 1990: 18)
Syntactic identity: the person-marking frame
Which person affixes do property words take, and what does this reveal?
When an adjective takes personal affixes in relation to a person, its conjugation completely matches that of Class II verbs. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) All adjectives in Ainu are Class II verbs, so when the prefix e- attaches to an adjective, it shifts to a Class I transitive verb. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936)
Morphological identity: causative and applicative morphology
Can property words take causative and applicative suffixes like action verbs?
Verbal affixes like the causative suffix and the applicative prefix attach equally to words with adjective-like meanings, provided they are semantically compatible. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2) In Sakhalin Ainu, asserted forms of adjectives are formed identically to asserted forms of verbs using the auxiliary ki 'do'. (reported in Refsing 1986) In Ainu, asserted forms of property verbs (adjectives) are formed with the auxiliary verb ki 'do', just like verbs. (reported in Refsing 1986: 27) Words traditionally classified as adjectives can undergo causativization or transitivization by the addition of suffixes or prefixes like any other intransitive verb. (Refsing 1986: 141)
Semantic identity: the stative–inchoative duality
How do property verbs express both a state and entering that state?
Stative property verbs in Ainu inherently express both a state and an inchoative change into that state without morphological derivation. (Nakagawa 2024: 119, 124, 438, Shibatani 1990: 18) Stative property verbs cannot combine with the copula ne to express inchoative change because inchoative meaning is already inherent in the stem. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2, Nakagawa 2024: 119) The verb 'pirka' is usually translated in a stative sense as 'good', but it can also be used in an inchoative sense as 'become good/recover'. (Satō 2008: 20) The verb rupne is sometimes used to mean 'to become an adult' or 'to grow old', as in rupne mat 'old woman'. (Satō 2008: 359)
The candidate counter-class: adnouns, poro and pon, and the historical analysis
What three phenomena might suggest a residual adjective class?
The adjective/verb páse means 'heavy', but it is also used with the meaning of 'noble / great'. (Satō 2008: 309)
poro and pon: verbs with prominent prenominal distribution
Why are 'poro' and 'pon' considered verbs despite frequent prenominal use?
poro means 'large/big', but in certain contexts it can express the meaning 'adult, full-fledged, grown-up'. (Satō 2008: 352)
Comparison and degree
How are comparison and degree expressed without dedicated adjective morphology?
The prefixes ar- and si- are used with stative verbs to intensify their meaning. (Refsing 1986) The prefix ru- is used with stative verbs to indicate a slight degree (e.g., sesek 'be warm' > rusesek 'be lukewarm'). (Refsing 1986) The stative verb rupne means 'big', but seems to carry the relative nuance of 'big among the same kind'. (proposed in Satō 2008: 357)