Knowledge base · Part XIV — Tense, Aspect, Mood, and Modality · this topic as a network
113. Phasal, Iterative, and Habitual Aspect
How are phasal, iterative, and habitual aspects expressed?
Lexical aspect in Ainu is expressed through word derivation by attaching suffixes such as -kosanu to roots or through partial or full root reduplication, being lexically restricted rather than applying to all verbal roots (Nakagawa 2024: 439). Nakagawa proposes that aspectual suffixes attaching to roots form intransitive verbs and can be regarded as formative suffixes (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 203). The verbal suffix -kosanu (plural -kosanpa or -kosampa) expresses instantaneous aspect, indicating that an action of short duration occurs once (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990, Nakagawa 2024: 203). The verbal suffix -osma (or -oshma) expresses momentary aspect (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990). Successive aspect is expressed by the verbal suffixes -rototo and -rototke (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990). Durative aspect is marked by the verbal suffixes -natara and -(h)itara (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990). In principle, -natara attaches to consonant-final stems and -(h)itara attaches to vowel-final stems, though exceptions such as matunitara and tununitara occur (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Hokkaido Ainu, the suffix -itara attaches to verbs to form an aspectual verb meaning intermittent or continuous action, as in homar-itara 'to be intermittently hazy' from homar 'to be hazy' (Satō 2008: 274). The verbal suffix -atki expresses multitudinous aspect (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). The verbal suffix -ekatta expresses intensive aspect ('strongly', 'vigorously') (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Shizunai material, among Kindaichi's action-aspect suffixes, only -kosanu, -tek, and -ekatta occur, and only in a few expressions that appear lexicalized (Refsing 1986: 32). In that dialect, the verb suffixes -kosanpa and -ekatta indicate a momentary or instantaneous mode of action (Refsing 1986). Across the language, the verbal suffix -tek expresses trivial aspect ('a little bit') (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990). In the Saru and Chitose dialects, tek expresses performing an action briskly in a short moment, whereas in other dialects tek is used as a conjunctive particle (Nakagawa 2024: 312). In Hokkaido Ainu, the auxiliary tek expresses doing an action for an instant or doing it quickly (Satō 2008: 86). In Hokkaido Ainu, the light noun us-ke expresses the aspectual meaning of being just now in progress (Bugaeva 2016). In Sakhalin Ainu, teh an following a notional verb expresses perfective aspect (Bugaeva 2022: 20.6). The aspectual particles anki in Hidaka and anke in Iburi express imminent aspect ('on the verge of doing...', 'about to...') (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Horobetsu, the particle anke is often repeated as anke anke (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). Across Ainu, the particles etokoiki and etokush express imminent aspect (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Sakhalin Ainu, the auxiliary collocation kusu kara expresses a state about to occur, an action on the verge of initiation, a planned action, or a confirmed future action (Murasaki 2025: 34). In Shizunai, the conjunctionalizer ayne can express the resultative mode of action (Refsing 1986). In the same dialect, excess of an action, state, or event going beyond what is reasonable or expected can be expressed by the auxiliary kaspa (Refsing 1986: 199). Also in Shizunai, the defective mode of action, indicating that a process has not been carried through as expected or hoped for, is expressed by the auxiliaries niwkes and orakse (Refsing 1986: 199). In this contrast, niwkes indicates that part of a process has been left undone, whereas orakse adds a nuance of dissatisfaction or lack of fulfillment that is a source of discomfort for the subject (Refsing 1986: 199). Furthermore, in Shizunai, the auxiliaries moyre and tunas characterize a process as either slow or quick, respectively (Refsing 1986).
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Phasal and iterative strategies in the auxiliary system
What strategies mark phasal and iterative aspect in the auxiliary system?
Aspectual auxiliaries do not take personal affixes. (Shibatani 1990) Aspectual complex predicates are also formed by combinations of conjunctive particles and verbs such as oman 'go', ek 'come', okere 'end', and isam 'not exist'. (Takahashi 2022: 18.2)
Completive aspect: wa isam and wa okere
How is completive aspect expressed with wa isam and wa okere?
In Sakhalin Ainu, the auxiliary verb hemaka expresses completive aspect, cessation, or doing completely ('finish doing, end up doing, stop doing'). (Murasaki 2025: 36, 44, 69, 94) The completed aspect is marked by the verb okere (singular) / okerpa (plural) 'finish'. (Refsing 1986: 195) The conjunctionalizer wa usually precedes okere, but okere can also attach directly to the main verb. (Refsing 1986: 195) The idiomatic construction wa isam means 'to end up doing' and is typically preceded by verbs of separation, death, destruction, or disappearance. (Satō 2008: 342, 356) The word oar 'completely' can be inserted into wa isam to form wa oar isam. (Satō 2008: 342, 358) The pair verb construction wa isam expresses perfective aspect. (Bugaeva 2012: 494–495) In Sakhalin Ainu, the construction wa isam following a notional verb encodes conclusive aspect. (Bugaeva 2022: 20.6) The particle sequence wa-isam expresses perfective aspect. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The verb (wa-)okere expresses perfective aspect ('finish doing'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Refsing distinguishes between wa isam as expressing perfective aspect and wa okere as expressing completed aspect, whereas Chiri places both under perfective aspect (kanryōtai). (Refsing 1986: 32) The perfective aspect describes a process completed within the temporal framework established by the speaker, used when the process is completed by exhausting its possibilities for continuation or has resulted in the disappearance of the subject (with intransitive verbs) or the object (with transitive verbs). (Refsing 1986: 192) The perfective aspect is formed by combining the coordinative conjunctionalizer wa with the intransitive verb isam 'not be / be gone'. (Refsing 1986: 192) The completed aspect describes an action as having achieved completion according to a planned course (and indicating achievement of the desired result if one is implied), or indicates that an event ran its course or a state was achieved completely and according to expectation. (Refsing 1986: 195) The perfective wa isam emphasizes the disappearance of an entity as a result of an action, whereas the completed wa okere emphasizes the completion of the action itself. (Refsing 1986: 195) The auxiliary okere expresses doing something completely or ending up doing something. (Satō 2008: 85) The auxiliary phrase wa (oar) isam means 'to end up doing completely' and is used in expressions denoting the damage, breakage, or disappearance of an object. (Satō 2008: 88) The auxiliary phrase wa okere expresses the completion or finish of an action or event, often implying that an often regrettable change of state occurred as a result. (Satō 2008: 89) The sequence wa isam is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to end up doing (completely)'. (Satō 2008: 145) okake is used to mean 'traces (after completion)', and okake an expresses 'finish doing ~'. (Satō 2008: 348) The terminative aspect is marked by okere, which means 'finish'. (Shibatani 1990) Constructions using forms like wa oman and wa okere can coexist with constructions using the auxiliary verbs oman and okere. (Takahashi 2022: 18.2) Sentences with forms like wa oman or wa okere are marked forms expressing a special meaning such as regret or lament. (Takahashi 2022: 18.2) The auxiliary verbs oman and okere do not express any special meaning such as regret or lament. (reported in Takahashi 2022: 18.2)
Inceptive extensions of kor an
How does kor an express inceptive aspect?
The inchoative auxiliaries oasi and heasi found in other dialects do not occur in Shizunai material. (Refsing 1986) In addition to intention, verb plus kusu ki can express incipient action and in that function may take any person as subject. (Refsing 1986: 206, 207) The particles oashi (Hidaka) and heashi (Iburi) express inchoative aspect ('begin to...'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Wa ek may be used with an inchoative meaning to describe the onset of an action or event. (Refsing 1986) A verb personal form followed by the auxiliary etokus means 'about to do / on the verge of doing'. (Satō 2008: 192) A verb personal form followed by the auxiliary etokoyki means 'start to do / be on the verge of doing', often with a concrete nuance like 'prepare to'. (Satō 2008: 192) The incipient aspect is marked by oasi, etymologically analyzed as o- 'hip' and asi 'stand/appear/arise'. (Shibatani 1990)
Iterative aspect
How is iterative aspect marked?
In Sakhalin Ainu, the verbal suffix -pa encodes iterative aspect. (Bugaeva 2022: 20.6) The verb kere means 'to touch', and when reduplicated as kerekere it means 'to touch repeatedly'. (Satō 2008: 241)
The reduplicated a … a construction
How does the reduplicated a … a construction mark iterative aspect?
The auxiliary a marks an action as having duration. (Refsing 1986) The reduplicated pattern ...-a...-a expresses repeated or continuous action. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Repeating the auxiliary in the pattern ~ a ~ a (plural ~ rok ~ rok) expresses the repetition or continuation of an action. (Nakagawa 2024: 306) The durative is usually expressed by repeating the verb twice and placing a after it both times. (Refsing 1986: 192) A single a represents a weaker expression of duration, whereas the repeated construction conveys impatience on the part of the speaker. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 192) The verb form accompanied by the durative auxiliary a is usually repeated, often implying a nuance of impatience on the part of the speaker. (Refsing 1986) The repeated construction (verb) a (verb) a is often followed by the conjunctionalizer ayne (with the final a sometimes dropped) to indicate that the overly long duration of something has finally ended and something else will follow. (Refsing 1986) When the form (verb) a (verb) a is used with a verb of instantaneous, momentary, or resultative meaning, a denotes repetition of an act. (Refsing 1986)
The iterative auxiliary ranke
How does ranke mark iterative aspect?
The morpheme ranke expresses iterative meaning in both Saru and Shizunai, but functions as an auxiliary verb in Saru and as a conjunctionalizer in Shizunai. (Refsing 1986: 246) In the Saru dialect, ranke is an iterative verb auxiliary expressing repetition of an action at intervals. (reported in Refsing 1986: 199, 246) The particle ranke expresses iterative aspect ('repeatedly', 'always used to'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The conjunctive particle ranke expresses doing one action after another repeatedly, or repeating the same action, characteristically with intervals between the actions ('now doing X and now doing Y', 'repeat doing'). (Murasaki 2025: 32) The auxiliary or suffix ranke expresses repeated or alternating actions ('doing ... repeatedly, doing ... and then ...'). (Murasaki 2025: 54) The auxiliary verb ranke expresses alternative or repetitive actions ('doing ~ and doing ~'). (Murasaki 2025: 94) The particle ranke expresses doing actions repeatedly or alternately with temporal intervals between the actions. (Murasaki 2025: 97) The auxiliary ranke expresses that an action is performed repeatedly ('do repeatedly / over and over'). (Nakagawa 2024: 311) The iterative mode of action can be expressed with the conjunctionalizer ranke. (Refsing 1986) In the Shizunai dialect, ranke is used in an iterative function, but it belongs to the class of conjunctionalizers rather than auxiliaries. (Refsing 1986: 199) The auxiliary ranke expresses doing something repeatedly or intermittently. (Satō 2008: 85)
Habitual and generic aspect
How is habitual aspect expressed?
The recent perfect nisa
How does nisa mark recent perfect aspect?
The particle nisa expresses perfective aspect. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The auxiliary nisa expresses that an action or event has already taken place ('ended up doing / have done'). (Nakagawa 2024: 311) Incorporation of intrinsic auxiliaries other than rusuy is rare, but nisa 'finish' is attested incorporated into a complex verb (e.g. sakekunisa=an). (Nakagawa 2024: 491) The Shizunai dialect lacks the auxiliary nisa, which in Saru indicates completion in the immediate past, or any corresponding form. (Refsing 1986: 192) The auxiliary nisa expresses completion or past ('did, ended up doing'). (Satō 2008: 84)