Knowledge base · Part X — The Personal-Affix System and Alignment · this topic as a network

70. Person–Number Interactions and Plural Agreement

How do personal affixes and number marking interact in Hokkaido Ainu verbs?

2 sentences from 19 sources · every sentence names the pages it rests on

Two layers of number

How are person and number marked across two distinct layers in Hokkaido Ainu?

Congruence exists between plural pronominal affixes and plural forms of verbs. (Refsing 1986)

What controls the plural verb

What controls the choice between plural and singular intransitive verb stems in Hokkaido Ainu?

When tura takes a personal affix meaning 'with me', the accompanying main verb can be marked by a plural personal suffix as if the subject were plural. (Shibatani 1990: 36)

kuruma an wa ci=o tek arki=as

car exist CONJ 1PL.EXCL.A=board then come.PL=1PL.EXCL.S

‘There was a car, and we boarded it and came.’

Takahashi 2015: 206 · TOK

apkas=as pa

walk=1PL.EXCL.S PL

‘We walk.’

Ijäs 2023 · constructed

Stem-forming -pa and outer pa

How do stem-forming -pa and outer pa differ in position and function in Hokkaido Ainu?

nenpoka iki=an pa wa siknu=an wa

somehow do=4.S PL CONJ live=4.S CONJ

‘Somehow we managed and survived, and…’

Nakagawa 2024: 159 · SAR

irwak sinne sorekusu iki-pa=an

sibling like exactly do-PL=4.S

‘We were like siblings.’

Nakagawa 2024: 159 · SAR

rus patek a=mi wa hotke=an pa

fur only 4.A=wear CONJ sleep=4.S PL

‘We wore only furs and slept.’

ILCAA Ainu materials 1976: aa-irc/005#157 · SAR

Fourth-person plurals and number mismatches

How does the fourth-person series affect plural marking regardless of referent count in Hokkaido Ainu?

eani hem paye=an ro

2SG also go.PL=4.S HORT

‘Let's go together, you and I.’

Nakagawa 2024: 175 · CHI

hunak wa arki=an ru-we an

where from come.PL=4.S track-POSS exist

‘Where have you come from?’

Nakagawa 2024: 176 · CHI

Shizunai ci and Sakhalin =hci: position as the diagnostic

How do Shizunai ci and Sakhalin =hci function as outer plural markers in Hokkaido Ainu dialects?

hoski no hotke=an ci akus

first ADV sleep=4.S PL then

‘When we slept first, …’

Nakagawa 2024: 155 · SHI

eciokaya-hcin naa eci=paye-hci-hi nee nanko

2PL-PL still 2PL.S=go.PL-PL-NMLZ COP probably

‘You people must have gone too.’

Murasaki 1979: 52;Nakagawa 2024: 155 · SA