Knowledge base · Part XI — Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation · this topic as a network
90. Oblique Incorporation and the Syntactic-vs-Lexicalist Debate
How does oblique noun incorporation operate in Hokkaido Ainu, and what is the syntactic-vs-lexicalist debate about it?
In poetic expressions, expletives can be incorporated into verbs, as seen in i=emaknakurraypa kane 'it drove me back', where the element -kur is an incorporated expletive. (Nakagawa 2024: 484)
Oblique incorporation via the applicative
What is the role of the applicative in oblique noun incorporation in Hokkaido Ainu?
In Ainu, oblique nominals cannot be directly incorporated into a verb without first being promoted to a direct object via an applicative prefix. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4, Shibatani 1990: 62, 66) In the incorporation of an oblique nominal via applicative formation, the applicative prefix occurs internally and the incorporated noun is added externally. (Shibatani 1990: 66) A small set of irregular forms reported in Chiri (1936) exhibit an order where the applicative prefix precedes the incorporated noun rather than following it. (reported in Shibatani 1990) In compound verb structures of the type 'objective prefix + noun + transitive verb', the incorporated noun is normally a locative noun or a body part. (Satō 2008: 290) The verb yayramtomoytak 'to calm one's feelings/anger' is morphologically analyzed as yay- 'self (acc.)' + ram 'heart/mind' + tom 'middle' + o- 'at/towards' + itak 'speak'. (Satō 2008: 310) An independent noun stem such as upsor 'bosom' can be incorporated into the locative slot of omare 'put into' in place of the nominal prefix u-, leaving the subject and theme slots to be filled by transitive inflection (e.g. kane k-upsor-omare 'I put money into my bosom'). (Satō 2023) When applicative formation and noun incorporation apply to the same semantically oblique nominal, the derivation proceeds via applicative formation advancing the oblique to object before noun incorporation applies. (Shibatani 1990: 68) Oblique nominal adjuncts cannot be incorporated directly into the verb. (Shibatani 1990)
Postposition–applicative correspondences
How do postpositions correspond to applicative prefixes in oblique noun incorporation in Hokkaido Ainu?
Ainu verbs cannot incorporate other parts of speech such as particles or adnominals; functions corresponding to postpositional adverbs like ani and tura, case particles like (or)ta and (or)un, or conjunctional particles like kusu are expressed by applicative affixes. (Nakagawa 2024: 484)
Adverb incorporation and stacking limits
How does adverb incorporation work in Hokkaido Ainu, and what are its stacking constraints?
The syntactic-vs-lexicalist debate: positions catalogued
What are the main theoretical positions in the syntactic-vs-lexicalist debate over Ainu noun incorporation?
Noun incorporation in Ainu is simply one means of filling an argument slot, eliminating the need to derive it by syntactic head movement from an independent external noun phrase. (Satō 2023) The phrase ka opas (literally 'run to one's surface') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'save'. (Satō 2022: 16.6) The phrase ka oyki (literally 'do something to one's surface') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'take care of'. (Satō 2022: 16.6) The phrase kes anpa (literally 'catch one's end') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'chase'. (Satō 2022: 16.6) The phrase tom oytak (literally 'talk to one's center') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'persuade'. (Satō 2022: 16.6) The phrase aske uk (literally 'take one's hand') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'invite'. (Satō 2022: 16.6) The phrase par oyki (literally 'do something to one's mouth') is an idiomatic quasi-incorporation expression meaning 'feed' or 'support'. (Satō 2022: 16.6)
Satō's markedness calculus and the NI⊃QI hierarchy
How does Satō's markedness calculus rank noun incorporation types in Hokkaido Ainu?