Knowledge base · Part VI — Word Classes and Nominal Morphology · this topic as a network
42. The Structure of the Noun Phrase
What is the internal structure of a noun phrase, including modifier order and modification strategies?
Nouns and personal pronouns do not inflect for case. (Bugaeva 2006: 186) mosma can form part of the idiom mosmanoan (composed of no and an), which means 'keep silent, say nothing'. (Refsing 1986) In Ainu, simply juxtaposing noun phrases can express coordination ('A and B'). (Satō 2008: 184) Simple juxtaposition of nouns like saranip and makiri suffices to express noun coordination 'saranip and makiri'. (Satō 2008: 191) Conjoined noun phrases are mediated by the particle newa or most likely simply juxtaposed without any mediating particle. (Shibatani 1990: 22) The particle newa is used when things are enumerated as in 'X and Y'. (Shibatani 1990: 36)
The modifier-position template
What is the order of prenominal and postnominal modifiers within a noun phrase?
Adnominal modifiers consistently precede the noun they modify. (Shibatani 1990: 22, 38) A head noun in a noun phrase can take prepositive modifiers including determiners, adverbs, nouns, possessor NPs, and relative clauses. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Noun phrases in Sakhalin Ainu have six structural types: noun alone, affiliative noun, adnominal plus noun, noun plus adnominal postposition, verb phrase plus formal noun, and noun plus locative noun. (Murasaki 2025: 98) Both the conceptual form and the affiliative form of ordinary nouns can be modified by verb phrases, noun phrases, and prenominals. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.3) Every noun phrase, regardless of its internal syntactic composition, has an arity of -1. (Nakagawa 2024: 368) A single noun can constitute a noun phrase by itself. (Nakagawa 2024: 379) Both adnouns and noun prefixes precede and modify nominals, but noun prefixes are more tightly bound to their hosts than adnouns. (Refsing 1986: 77) A minimal noun expression consists of a single nominal, which may be a general noun, a proper name, a quantity noun, or a positional. (Refsing 1986: 274) When more than one modifier occurs in a noun phrase, numerals precede attributive verbs. (Shibatani 1990: 42)
Demonstrative prenominals
How does the language distinguish between on-site and discourse-anaphoric demonstratives?
An adnominal word (demonstrative, interrogative, or numeral) placed before a noun or noun phrase forms a noun phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 384)
Numeral and quantifier prenominals
How are numerals and quantifiers positioned relative to other modifiers and the head noun?
When placed after a noun phrase, a numeral combines with it to form a single noun phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 383) A pronominal affix or a stative verb may be inserted between an adnominal numeral and the noun. (Refsing 1986)
Property verbs and adnouns as modifiers
How do property verbs and adnouns function as attributive modifiers?
When preceding a noun, usa functions as an adnoun meaning 'a lot of / lots of'. (Refsing 1986) In attributive use, adjectives always precede the noun they modify. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The adnominal case particle un attaches to a noun to form an adnominal phrase that specifies the affiliation of a following noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 301) The construction Noun₁ + verb un + Noun₂ can express 'Noun₂ to which Noun₁ is attached', whereas the case particle un cannot express 'Noun₂ to which Noun₁ belongs'. (Nakagawa 2024: 302) Adnouns only precede general nouns, and the majority of them are anaphoric, deictic, or interrogative. (Refsing 1986: 77) Adnouns are forms which precede and modify nouns and in some cases nominalizers. (Refsing 1986) Noun prefixes are more tightly bound to the nouns they precede than adnouns are, such that nothing may be interpolated between prefix and noun, and their distribution is limited to specific groups of nouns. (Refsing 1986: 155) Some adnouns overlap with numerals in their basic form as well as demonstrative and indeterminate pronouns. (Refsing 1986: 155) The adnoun mosma means 'other -'. (Refsing 1986: 155) The form oyaykino means 'various -' and functions adnominally, but can also be interpreted as an adverb. (Refsing 1986) The adnoun sino means 'real -'. (Refsing 1986) For the expressions anun and piskan, adnominal use is predominant, while occurrences as independent nouns are rare. (Refsing 1986) The expression anun means 'strange(r) -'. (Refsing 1986) The expression piskan means 'widespread -' or '- everywhere'. (Refsing 1986) Adnouns and pronominal prefixes on a general noun are mutually exclusive. (Refsing 1986: 274) The word sonno can also be used as an adnominal modifier. (Satō 2008: 343) Stative verbs and other intransitive verbs modify nouns directly without any morphological change. (Shibatani 1990: 40) Nominal modifiers can be derived from nouns by compounding them with verbs such as an 'exist' or sak 'lack'. (Shibatani 1990: 40)
Relative-clause modifiers
How are relative clauses formed without relative pronouns or dedicated morphology?
The postpositional phrase
What elements constitute the postpositional phrase and how do they follow the head noun?
Attributive postpositions attach to a noun to mark it as an adnominal modifier of a following noun. (Refsing 1986: 79, 161) Coordinative postpositions are placed between nouns or noun expressions of equal weight to express enumeration. (Refsing 1986: 79) There are three attributive postpositions: un, ne, and kor. (Refsing 1986: 161) The postposition un is predominantly used when a noun is characterized as belonging to a specific place. (Refsing 1986: 161) The copula ne may be used as an attributive postposition establishing an identity or class membership relation between two nouns. (Refsing 1986: 161)
Apposition and attributive juxtaposition
How does the language express apposition and attributive juxtaposition with two nouns?
When following a sequence of two or more nouns, usa marks an open-ended enumeration meaning 'various... and various... and other things'. (Refsing 1986) Attributive modification between two nouns is formed by simple juxtaposition of the dependent noun and the head noun. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) The Saru dialect of Ainu lacks a particle that conjoins two noun phrases. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.6) Noun expressions may be linked together by mere juxtaposition or enumeration, which occurs mostly with general nouns. (Refsing 1986: 274) In coordinative linking of noun expressions, the coordinative postposition is often repeated after each noun expression. (Refsing 1986: 274) When a noun is accompanied by a modifier, as in ri cikuni 'tall tree', the noun is often repeated before a locative/relational noun. (Satō 2008: 336) A proper noun precedes the common noun in Ainu. (Shibatani 1990: 24)
The possessor slot
How are possessive relationships expressed within the noun phrase based on alienability?
In the possessive NP construction, omitting the possessor noun is most natural, especially when it is overtly indexed on the possessee. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.5) An affiliative-form noun and its possessor antecedent are analyzed as belonging to separate noun phrases that combine into a single noun phrase. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 369) Pronominal affixes in their nominative form can be prefixed to any noun capable of taking the belonging form, and a short verb phrase may be interpolated between the prefix and the noun. (Refsing 1986: 155) When a personal affix indicates the possessor of a modified noun, the attributive verb may either precede the affixed head noun or appear after the personal affix, interrupting the sequence of affix and head noun. (Shibatani 1990: 42) In colloquial varieties of different dialectal areas, an attributive element can intervene between a possessive personal affix and the head noun. (Shibatani 1990) In Saru Ainu, only a single attribute can be incorporated between the personal affix and the head noun, ruling out combinations with an adverbial modifier. (reported in Shibatani 1990) Tamura concludes that sequences where an attribute intervenes between the possessive personal prefix and the head noun are words rather than phrases. (reported in Shibatani 1990) In the Sakhalin dialect, an attributive phrase consisting of an adverb and an attributive verb can be incorporated after the personal prefix, as in e-pon-no poro setaha. (Shibatani 1990) Hattori treats sequences of personal prefix plus attributes plus noun as constituting a 'word concatenation' rather than compound words, on the grounds that each unit retains its own prosodeme. (reported in Shibatani 1990) In Sakhalin Ainu, too many attributive elements cannot be inserted between the personal affix and the head noun, such that e-sine kurasno poro setaha is rejected. (reported in Shibatani 1990) A personal affix cannot be attached to both the attributive verb and the head noun within a noun phrase unit, ruling out forms such as e-kurasno poro e-setaha. (Shibatani 1990) Sequences with an attributive element between the personal prefix and the noun are best analyzed as cases of word formation involving the incorporation of attributive elements into the head noun. (Shibatani 1990)
NP-internal agreement
Is there any agreement morphology within the noun phrase?
The coordinating particle newa is not used in the Saru and Chitose dialects, which express noun phrase coordination by simple juxtaposition instead. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.4, Nakagawa 2024: 326) In the Tokachi and Kushiro dialects, usa is used like a focus particle to coordinate noun phrases in parallel. (Nakagawa 2024: 324) In dialects other than Tokachi and Kushiro, usa is mainly used as an adverb, coordinating noun phrases prenominally in the pattern usa ... usa .... (Nakagawa 2024: 325) The coordinator newa joins two noun phrases together to form a single coordinate noun phrase, and it is used in dialects other than Saru and Chitose. (Nakagawa 2024: 325) Unlike particles such as ka and hem, newa is not added to the final coordinate element. (Nakagawa 2024: 325) Coordinated nouns or noun phrases joined by a coordinating particle such as newa constitute a single noun phrase as a whole, with an overall arity of -1. (Nakagawa 2024: 370)