Knowledge base · Part XIV — Tense, Aspect, Mood, and Modality · this topic as a network

111. The Perfective/Anterior Particle a (a, a…a, aan)

What does the postverbal particle a and its variants a…a and aan express regarding completion and anteriority in Hokkaido Ainu?

Form, etymology, and the number alternation

What are the singular and plural forms of the auxiliary that marks completion, and from which verb are they derived?

The perfect auxiliary verb is a for singular subjects and rok for plural subjects. (Bugaeva 2012: 492–493) a (plural rok) is originally a verb meaning 'to sit', which became grammaticalized into a particle used to state an action as settled or definite, and therefore often indicates completion or past tense. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The continuous aspect construction ...-a...-a is also originally this same element a. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The initial a- in particles such as achiki, aike, aine, akusu, and awa is a proclitically combined with other particles, which explains why they attach only to predicates. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In elder speech, 'an expresses completion, but it is used only in adnominal form. (Murasaki 2025: 37) Unlike rusuy, the anterior/perfective auxiliary particle a never incorporates into the preceding verb stem to host personal affixes (e.g. *ek-a=an is ungrammatical). (Nakagawa 2024: 294) The auxiliary a : rok can be etymologically considered a grammaticalized form of the intransitive verb a : rok ('to sit'). (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 306) When p is used as a conjunctional particle, it is frequently preceded by the auxiliary a, with the entire sequence a p functioning as a connecting phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 516) Except in interrogative sentences, the auxiliary verb a does not appear at the end of a sentence and is always followed either by the sentence-final particle wa or by a nominal form. (Satō 2008: 79) The auxiliary a can occur before conjunctions and nouns, but in most cases it is followed by a sentence-final particle such as wa. (Satō 2008: 188) In ordinary declarative clauses, a sentence almost never ends with the auxiliary a alone, but a can occur sentence-finally in interrogative sentences. (Satō 2008: 188) Under normal circumstances, the auxiliary verb a cannot precede the conjunctive particle kor. (Satō 2008: 334) Ainu marks the perfective aspect using the auxiliary-type markers a for singular subjects and rok for plural subjects, derived from verbs meaning 'to sit'. (Shibatani 1990) The auxiliary verb a in Ainu is a grammaticalized form of the intransitive verb a 'to sit' and has commonly been analyzed in previous research as expressing past or perfect. (reported in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.1) Plural forms rok-oka (Saru, Chitose) and rok-okay (Chitose, Horobetsu) reflect the plural rok of the verb a and the plural oka(y) of the verb an. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4)

Five competing analyses of a

What readings does the particle a have, and what are the competing analyses of its function?

The auxiliary a (plural rok) functions as a marker of relative past tense, indicating an action that precedes an action in the present. (reported in Refsing 1986: 192) The auxiliary verb a denotes only actional perfect and does not co-occur with negative forms of verbs, which instead require a stative perfect pair-verb construction. (reported in Bugaeva 2012: 492–493) Refsing analyzes the particle a as expressing durative mode of action (Aktionsart), whereas Kindaichi treats it as expressing perfective aspect. (Refsing 1986: 32) In the Shizunai dialect data, occurrences of auxiliary a are very few and are best interpreted as expressing the durative mode of action. (Refsing 1986: 192) The auxiliary marker a does not simply express past tense, but indicates whether an action has already occurred or not yet occurred in close relation to the present moment. (Satō 2008: 78) The auxiliary a explicitly indicates past and perfective meaning, often conveying that a past event has some effect on the present. (Satō 2008: 187) Unlike wa an, which does not combine with action verbs lacking a direct result, the auxiliary a can attach both to change-of-state verbs implying a direct result (such as us 'wear') and to action verbs without direct results (such as e 'eat' and hawean 'say'). (Satō 2008: 187) To express the completion ('has already done') of an action verb like 'ipe', the auxiliary 'a' is used rather than 'wa an'. (Satō 2008: 198) The morpheme a functions as an auxiliary verb expressing past or perfective. (Satō 2008: 292) The auxiliary verb a is proposed to have the aspectual meaning of perfective, expressing a situation that is complete and disconnected from the present time of speech. (proposed in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) The auxiliary verb a can mark direct evidentiality, strengthening the certainty of the situation and making a contrast with the following clause stand out even in temporally unaffected statements. (proposed in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) As an extension of its meaning, the auxiliary verb a denotes certainty or recall of a past situation. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.5)

Scene-shift in narrative

How does the particle a function in narrative to signal scene shifts, and what patterns are used?

In Saru Ainu, the auxiliary a (plural rok) is used to indicate that an event had already occurred prior to a reference point, often presenting it as a contrasting background situation for subsequent events. (Nakagawa 2024: 306) In narratives, when a appears at the end of a sentence with the formal noun p or the conjunctive particles korka or wa, it tends to mark a change of scene, topic, or actor in the story. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4)

Iterative reduplication: the ~a ~a / ~rok ~rok pattern

What does reduplication of the verb-plus-auxiliary unit, as in V a V a, express?

The single auxiliary a in the Shizunai dialect is best interpreted as expressing a weaker durative mode of action, whereas repeating the verb with a both times expresses duration with overtones of impatience. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 192) The verb form followed by the durative particle a is usually repeated, which often implies a nuance of impatience on the part of the speaker. (Refsing 1986: 199) The repeated expression (verb) a (verb) a is often followed by the conjunctionalizer ayne to indicate that the long duration of something has finally ended and something else will follow. (Refsing 1986: 199) When (verb) a (verb) a is followed by ayne, the final a is sometimes dropped. (Refsing 1986: 199) When (verb) a (verb) a is used with a verb of instantaneous, momentary, or resultative content, a denotes the repetition of an act (iterative mode of action). (Refsing 1986: 199) The particle a is usually an auxiliary verb indicating past tense, but when used reduplicated (a ... a), it expresses continuous action ('keep on doing'). (Satō 2008: 61) When a verb phrase marked by what appears to be the auxiliary verb a is reduplicated as a... a..., it expresses continuous action ('keep on doing', 'do intensely/recklessly'). (Satō 2008: 79) When a form with the particle a is reduplicated, it means 'to keep on doing...', and in that construction the conjunctive particle kor can attach to it. (Satō 2008: 334)

Form, etymology, and dialect variants

What are the singular and plural forms of the auxiliary aan, and how is it etymologically composed?

The auxiliary verb a-an is composed of the auxiliary verb a plus the existential verb an, and has been considered to express surprise or admiration. (reported in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.1) In the narratives of Chitose dialect speaker Nabe Shirasawa, the form aan is rare and anan is used almost exclusively. (reported in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) The auxiliary verb corresponding to aan appears as haw'an in the Shizunai dialect, awan in the Tokachi dialect, and awokay and awan in the Horobetsu dialect. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) The dialectal forms anan, awan, and haw'an are phonological variants of aan, all having the underlying construction of verb a plus verb an. (proposed in Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4)

Meaning: after-the-fact realization and indirect evidentiality

What core meaning does the auxiliary aan convey, especially regarding realization and surprise?

The auxiliary verb aan has uses expressing indirect evidentiality and mirativity (unexpectedness). (reported in Hirosawa 2026) The auxiliary verb aan is used to indirectly confirm a past event based on physical traces in front of one's eyes or hearsay, expressing indirect evidentiality and mirativity. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) The auxiliary verb aan, which contains an, expresses perfect aspect, indicating an expansion of time spanning the past and the present. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.5)

The a / aan opposition: aspect, evidentiality, and the Classical Japanese parallel

How do a and aan contrast in aspect and evidentiality, and what parallel exists with Classical Japanese?

The auxiliary verbs a and aan form a systematic opposition of perfective versus perfect in aspect, and direct evidential versus indirect evidential in evidentiality. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.4) In terms of aspect, the auxiliary verb a expresses perfective aspect, whereas aan expresses perfect aspect. (Yoshikawa 2022: 19.5)

aan stacked with ruwe ne

What does the sequence aan followed by ruwe ne express in narrative, and how does it shift information territory?

The evidential form ruwe ne can follow the auxiliary verb aan. (Hirosawa 2026)