Knowledge base · Part VIII — Pronouns, Demonstratives, Postpositions, and Numerals · this topic as a network
53. Postpositions, Local Case, Motion Events, Comitative, and Instrumental
What postpositions, local cases, motion event encoding, and comitative/instrumental markers does Hokkaido Ainu have, and how do they pattern?
The allative case particle takes three forms across Ainu dialects: un, en, and (e)ne. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.4) In the Asahikawa dialect, the postpositional adverb ekota is used to express directional (allative) meaning. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.4) When objects or persons are enumerated, they are generally juxtaposed without any morpheme to mark coordination. (Refsing 1986: 163) In indicating the source of a noise, Karafuto Ainu, like Hokkaido dialects, uses the allative case particle ene rather than the ablative case wa. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) In the dialects of the northern part of the Karafuto west coast, there are no attested examples of place names followed directly by the allative case particle ene. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)
Two classes of adpositional elements
How does Hokkaido Ainu formally distinguish two classes of adpositional elements for local relations?
All grammatical particles in Ainu are postpositional. (Bugaeva 2012: 472–473, Refsing 1986) The comitative postposition tura marks the partner or companion of the subject or object of the predicate. (Refsing 1986: 169) In the speech of the last Ainu speakers, Japanese contact effects led to an increased reliance on postpositions and a decline in the use of applicatives. (Bugaeva 2012) Ainu has postpositions, but lacks prepositions. (Bugaeva 2016) The Saru dialect of Ainu distinguishes at least 12 cases, classified into postpositional adverbs and postpositional particles. (reported in Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) Relational words such as 'ahkari 'than' and 'onne 'to' are classified as postpositions (po). (Murasaki 2025) Postpositions in Sakhalin Ainu can take accusative personal affixes. (Murasaki 2025: 106) 'epes is a postposition meaning 'along', 'passing along the edge of'. (Murasaki 2025: 107) In older-generation speech, 'eturasi is used to mean moving along a long object, whether along the middle or the edge ('along', 'following along'). (Murasaki 2025: 108) tontuye is a postposition meaning 'across', 'crossing'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) In older-generation speech, tomotuye is used to mean 'across', 'crossing'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) pohka is a postposition meaning 'passing through', 'around the vicinity of'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) -oponi is a postposition meaning 'from behind', 'following after'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) neeno is a postposition meaning 'like', 'imitating'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) sirihine is a postposition meaning 'in place of', 'instead of'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) tura is used as a postposition meaning 'together with', 'accompanying', and can also be used as a transitive main verb meaning 'to accompany, take along'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) The postposition -ne marks count adverbials ('in a group of', 'as'). (Murasaki 2025: 109) The particle wa marks strictly the starting point of an action, whereas passage through a location is expressed by the postpositional adverb kari. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) In expressions such as osisoun wa and erorun wa, the un is the verb un ('fit into / head for') followed by the conjunctive particle wa, rather than an allative particle followed by an ablative particle. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 304) The comitative postposition tura is originally a transitive verb meaning 'follow'. (Refsing 1986: 169) The instrumental postposition ari marks the means by which something is done or the material used for producing something. (Refsing 1986: 171) Case particles and postpositional adverbs are collectively called 'postpositions' because both follow a noun to express spatial and temporal relations. (Satō 2008: 35) The postposition pisno means 'every, each'. (Satō 2008: 41) The postposition turano means 'with, together with'. (Satō 2008: 41) ani functions as an instrumental/case particle meaning 'with / by means of'. (Satō 2008: 366) Ainu exhibits noun + postposition word order. (Shibatani 1990: 22) There are no inflections or particles in Ainu that mark either subject or object. (Shibatani 1990: 34)
Case particles
What are the case particles for local relations in Hokkaido Ainu, and what functions does the locative cover?
The postposition un originally derived from a verb meaning 'to fit into' or 'to be stuck in'. (reported in Refsing 1986: 161; proposed in Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) No nominative or objective case postpositions exist in Shizunai Ainu. (Refsing 1986) The indirect object or dative case is generally unmarked, but when stressed it may be moved to the beginning of the sentence and marked with an allative postposition. (Refsing 1986) Marking by a case postposition is obligatory for the locative (unless a positional forms part of the adjunct), allative, ablative, traversal, comitative, comparative, instrumental, and mutative cases. (Refsing 1986) The locative case postposition ta marks location in space as well as in time. (Refsing 1986) The locative case postposition ta is often reinforced by the positional noun or, appearing in the form otta. (Refsing 1986) The most common marker for the allative case is un, meaning 'towards/to'. (Refsing 1986) The allative postposition un is sometimes used in combination with the directional noun prefixes e- and o-. (Refsing 1986) The allative postposition un can be reinforced by the positional noun or, yielding orun. (Refsing 1986) The postposition orun is used to mark an emphasized dative argument. (Refsing 1986: 167) When used with verbs of motion, the locative postposition ta acquires an allative meaning. (Refsing 1986: 167) The ablative case postposition wa can be reinforced by the positional noun or to become orwa. (Refsing 1986: 167) The ablative postposition orwa is used to mark the agent in passive constructions. (Refsing 1986: 169) The mutative postposition ne originates in the dynamic aspect of the copula meaning 'become'. (Refsing 1986: 171) The mutative postposition ne marks the adjunct that defines the result of a change. (Refsing 1986: 171) The postposition pakno marks the extreme limit of a movement in space or time, often following or replacing an allative case postposition. (Refsing 1986: 176) Case markers in Ainu are not employed for core arguments, but are restricted to peripheral syntactic functions (adjuncts). (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Adjuncts in Ainu are marked by postpositions including locative ta, allative un, dative e-un, ablative wa, instrumental ani, comitative tura/tura-no, traversal peka, and mutative ne. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Static location is marked with the locative postposition ta. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) The postposition e-un is reserved for marking animate Goals. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) The ablative postposition wa marks Source, and is also used for Actor demotion in the indefinite proper impersonal passive construction. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Case postpositions are restricted to adjuncts and include locative ta, allative un, dative eun, ablative wa, instrumental ani, comitative tura-(no), degree/allative pak-(no), traversal peka, and mutative ne. (Bugaeva 2015: 44) Nominative, accusative, and genitive cases are absent in Ainu. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) Dative case is indicated either by a particle or by a verbal prefix when it functions as the complement of an intransitive verb. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The locative case is expressed analytically by the particle ta or synthetically by the verbal prefixes e-, o-, and ko-. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The allative case is expressed analytically by the particles ta and un, or synthetically by the verbal prefixes e-, o-, and ko-. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The ablative case is expressed by wa, orwa, orowa, or their forms suffixed with -no. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The instrumental case particle is ani in the Hidaka region, whereas it is ari in other regions. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The comitative case is expressed by tura. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The perlative/prosecutive case is expressed by forms originating from verbs: kari, peka, ekari, okari, akkari, kama, turashi, pesh, and esor. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) kari and peka can be combined together as kari peka to express perlative meaning. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The limitative ('until') case is expressed by pakno and orpakno. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The abessive case is expressed by sak and sakno, which are derived from the verb sak 'to lack'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The particle ta functions as a local case marker ('at/in') and as a terminal case marker ('to'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The use of the particle ta to express the genitive meaning 'of' is permitted only in fixed idiomatic expressions. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The particle ne was originally a verb meaning 'to be' or 'to become', and functions as a particle expressing meanings such as 'forming/becoming' (in.), locative 'at/in', transformative 'into', and 'as'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The instrumental postposition ani was originally a verb meaning 'to hold in hand', and ari is a phonological variant of ani. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The postposition pakno consists of the verb pak ('to measure') and the adverbial suffix -no, functioning as 'until/up to', 'extent/as much as', and as an adverb. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) shiri-ne is also used as a postposition attached to substantives meaning 'in place of' or 'instead of'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) shiri-ne is also used as a postposition attached to substantives meaning 'like' or 'as' (= shinne). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The Saru dialect has six case particles: ta (locative and adnominal), wa (ablative), un (allative and adnominal), peka (prosecutive), and ne (translative). (Nakagawa 2024: 296) The four locative case particles ta, wa, un, and peka express spatial relations with the action and all require a noun phrase denoting a place. (Nakagawa 2024: 296) The locative case particle ta marks existing location, the location where an action takes place, or the goal/destination of an action. (Nakagawa 2024: 296) The locative particle ta can mark a temporal location in addition to spatial location. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) The ablative case particle wa indicates the starting point (source) of an action or event. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) When indicating a spatial source, there is little difference in usage between wa and wano formed by adding the adverbial suffix -no. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) When expressing a temporal starting point, wano is more commonly used than wa. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) The particle wa can indicate that an action originates from a location even without accompanying spatial movement. (Nakagawa 2024: 298) The allative case particle un indicates the direction toward which an action or motion is heading. (Nakagawa 2024: 298) Whereas un indicates the direction toward which motion is proceeding, ta indicates the endpoint already arrived at. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) When a sound is heard coming from a place, Ainu uses the particle un, literally framing it as hearing toward that direction. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) The perlative case particle peka indicates an extended spatial area or domain across which an action or event takes place. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) The verbs that co-occur with peka are by no means limited to verbs of motion. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) The translative case particle ne indicates the state or target into which something changes, and is etymologically derived from the verb ne 'to be, to become'. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 300) Adnominal ta is homophonous with but distinct from locative ta, occurring strictly between nouns (Noun + ta + Noun) and not requiring a locational complement. (Nakagawa 2024: 302) A noun phrase followed by a case particle functions as an adverbial phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 388) The locative case particles are ta (locative), un/en/(e)ne (allative), wa (ablative), and peka (prolative). (Nakagawa 2024: 456) The Saru and Chitose dialects lack a juxtapositional particle. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.6) In Tamura's model of Ainu, a case particle attaches to a nominal form to yield an adverbial form. (reported in Refsing 1986: 48) Case postpositions follow nominals and noun expressions to mark them as relational adjuncts. (Refsing 1986: 79) All nominals except conjunctions, interjections, and adverbs may be followed by case postpositions. (Refsing 1986: 79) Not all cases are marked with postpositions. (Refsing 1986: 79) Case on nouns may be marked by case postpositions. (Refsing 1986: 81) The form un is a case postposition indicating direction. (Refsing 1986: 124) Wa or wano are the postpositions for the ablative case. (Refsing 1986) Pakno is a postposition marking movement all the way to somewhere, similar in meaning to Japanese made. (Refsing 1986) The indirect object of a three-place verb may optionally be marked by a case postposition such as orun 'to' or orwa 'from, by'. (Refsing 1986: 143) Attributive un is homonymous with the allative case postposition un 'to'. (Refsing 1986: 161) The comparative case is marked by two postpositions with different meanings: akkari 'than' and koraci 'like'. (Refsing 1986: 169) The postposition akkari marks the standard of comparison in an unequal comparison, and it originates in a transitive verb meaning 'overtake/pass'. (Refsing 1986: 169) While akkari is used to compare unequal elements, koraci is used for comparisons of equality, marking the element that is similar to something else. (Refsing 1986: 169) The instrumental case postposition ari marks the means by which an action is performed or the material used to produce something. (Refsing 1986: 171) The instrumental case postposition ari may have a semantic connection to the quotationalizer ari. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 171) In ruwe ta an, ta is probably connected with the allative case postposition ta. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 231) The subject and direct object are always unmarked by case postpositions. (Refsing 1986: 273) Dative, locative, and allative case markers can be omitted under certain circumstances. (Refsing 1986: 273) pak(no) is a case particle expressing end point / limit ('until, as far as'). (Satō 2008: 36) péka(no) is a case particle marking location where motion takes place, or time ('in, along, across, at'). (Satō 2008: 37) ta is a case particle marking location of existence, time, or the goal/destination of motion ('in, at, to'). (Satō 2008: 37) un is a case particle marking direction or destination of motion ('to, toward'). (Satō 2008: 37) wa(no) is a case particle marking starting point or origin ('from'). (Satō 2008: 38) The word pakno means 'as much as, up to, to the extent of' and can be used both as a case particle and as a conjunctive particle. (Satō 2008: 67) In addition to wa ('from'), the form wano also exists. (Satō 2008: 311) Except for oro wa un, there are no known instances where un follows wa 'from'. (Satō 2008: 325) pakno functions as a postposition/particle meaning 'up to, until'. (Satō 2008: 371) Grammatical relations other than subject and object are realized through the use of postpositional particles. (Shibatani 1990: 34) The indirect object of a ditransitive verb is indicated by word order and context, but the dative particle orun may also be used to mark the goal noun. (Shibatani 1990: 34) ta functions as a locative particle. (Shibatani 1990: 34) ta and un function as allative particles. (Shibatani 1990: 34) wa, orwa, and orowa (optionally followed by -no) function as ablative particles. (Shibatani 1990: 34) ari functions as the instrumental particle. (Shibatani 1990: 36) tura(no) functions as the comitative particle. (Shibatani 1990: 36) ne functions as a translative particle, derived from the verb 'to be, to become'. (Shibatani 1990: 36) sak or sakno functions as an abessive particle, derived from the verb 'to lack'. (Shibatani 1990: 36) In Karafuto Ainu, the conceptual form of a noun can occur with the instrumental case marker ani. (Tangiku 2022: 9.4) In Karafuto Ainu, there are no examples of the simple ablative particle wa immediately following a noun affiliative form. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)
Postpositional adverbs
How are postpositional adverbs in Hokkaido Ainu classified etymologically?
The postposition peka indicates space traversed in the sense of 'through' or 'over'. (Refsing 1986: 169) Restrictive postpositions do not alter the syntactic status of the adjuncts they follow and function primarily to delimit them semantically. (Refsing 1986: 171) The postposition he functions coordinatively between nouns. (Refsing 1986: 176) The postposition 'onne marks the direction or goal of an action ('to, toward'). (Murasaki 2025: 22, 52) The postposition 'orowa expresses the starting point of an action and extends to instrumental or locative meanings. (Murasaki 2025: 22, 52) The postposition pahno expresses the extent of degree or a temporal limit ('until, to the extent that'). (Murasaki 2025: 22, 52) In younger Sakhalin Ainu speech, 'ani is used as a postposition meaning 'with, in' following a noun. (Murasaki 2025: 31, 96) The postpositions ani and tura/tura-no are in an early stage of grammaticalization and can often occur without nouns, occupying an intermediate status between verb and postposition. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Postpositional adverbs such as ani, eun, tura-(no), and pak-(no) can be used independently without an overt preceding noun. (reported in Bugaeva 2015: 45) Postpositional adverbs can be used independently because they originate historically in verbs and remain at an early stage of grammaticalization. (proposed in Bugaeva 2015: 45) Synchronically, the instrumental marker ani has an intermediate status between a verb and a postposition. (Bugaeva 2015: 46) Postpositional adverbs exhibit varying degrees of grammaticalization from verbs, but synchronically none of them can be regarded as verbs. (Bugaeva 2015: 46) The ability of several Ainu case postpositions, as well as some particles originating in verbs, to occur independently was first pointed out by Chiri (1953), contrasting them with Japanese case postpositions. (reported in Bugaeva 2015: 49) Many postpositional adverbs in Ainu originate in verbs or adverbs and can take personal affixes for A or for O. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) The postposition 'ani attaches to a noun to form a phrase that functions as an adverbial clause, expressing means or instrument. (Murasaki 2025: 13) The postposition 'ohta expresses the location where an action takes place or the location of existence ('at', 'in'). (Murasaki 2025: 22) The postposition 'ohta expresses location ('at, in') or temporal juncture ('when'). (Murasaki 2025: 51) The postposition 'onne (and its short form 'ene) indicates the direction of an action ('to', 'towards'). (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postpositions 'ohta and ta indicate the location or time where an action takes place ('at', 'in', 'on'). (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postpositions 'orowa, -wa, and 'oro express the point of origin of an action ('from', 'with', 'at'), extending to derivative meanings. (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition pahno expresses the destination of an action or a temporal limit ('up to', 'until'). (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition 'ahkari expresses the standard of comparison ('more than'). (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition 'ani expresses the means or instrument of an action ('with', 'by'). (Murasaki 2025: 107) Transitive verbs can be placed after a noun to form an adverbial phrase, converting to postpositional adverbs that require an antecedent. (Nakagawa 2024: 122) In the Chitose dialect, ani is a transitive verb meaning 'hold in hand', but can convert into a postpositional adverb meaning 'with / by means of' to modify a verb. (Nakagawa 2024: 122) Postpositional adverbs can take an antecedent, and when the antecedent is expressed by a person affix, they take objective person affixes. (Nakagawa 2024: 280) A postpositional adverb does not always require an overt antecedent; when the antecedent is clear from context, it does not change form (unlike locative nouns). (Nakagawa 2024: 280) Unlike other postpositional adverbs, opitta 'all' takes nominative person prefixes (e.g. a=opitta) rather than objective person prefixes (*i=opitta). (Nakagawa 2024: 281) The postpositional adverb meaning 'like ~' is nepkor in the Horobetsu dialect, and nepkon in the Tokachi and Shizunai dialects. (Nakagawa 2024: 281) Unlike case particles such as ta, postpositional adverbs do not require a grammatical locational noun or locative noun complement. (Nakagawa 2024: 282) The postpositional adverb kari does not require a locational noun, and inserting one (such as *ruyka or kari) results in ungrammaticality, unlike the case particle peka which requires a locational noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 282) The word kari can stand at the beginning of a clause as an independent adverb without an antecedent noun, whereas peka cannot appear sentence-initially without a locational noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 282) The form unno exists alongside un and explicitly expresses 'heading straight toward' or 'up to / as far as'. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) A form pekano exists alongside peka, although the semantic difference between them is unclear. (Nakagawa 2024: 299) In Saru, Chitose, and Horobetsu, the postpositional adverb eun expresses a direction similar to allative un, but does not require a locational noun and can stand alone at the beginning of a clause. (Nakagawa 2024: 303) A noun phrase followed by a postpositional adverb forms an adverbial phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 387) In expressions like ku kor and e kor, kor is analyzed as an attributive postposition. (Refsing 1986: 24) Between two nouns, the postposition ka means 'and' and marks the coordination of an open-ended string of elements. (Refsing 1986: 163) When all enumerated nouns are followed by ka, a closed string of elements is indicated, meaning '(both)... and...', or 'neither... nor...' if the predicate is negated. (Refsing 1986: 163) The restrictive postposition he may be used after each noun in a closed string of alternatives being questioned, meaning 'either...? or...?'. (Refsing 1986: 163) When used after each noun in an enumeration, hene functions coordinatively like ka ('both... and...'), but is more emphatic and carries a nuance of 'contrary to expectation'. (Refsing 1986: 163) Both turasi and esoro mean 'along', but in connection with a river, turasi means 'along the river upwards' while esoro means 'along the river downwards'. (Refsing 1986: 169) Restrictive postpositions can in principle follow all types of adjuncts, though their distribution is subject to semantic conditions. (Refsing 1986: 171) The restrictive postposition hene marks an adjunct as the minimum of something expected, meaning 'at least'. (Refsing 1986: 175) When occurring as a restrictive postposition after quantity nouns, ranke has a distributive meaning of '- each'. (Refsing 1986: 176) In a relational adjunct, a restrictive postposition follows the case postposition if one is present; otherwise, it follows directly upon the nominal core. (Refsing 1986: 273) When the following verb is a verb of existence or location, 'okari' is translated as 'around' or 'in the surroundings of', whereas when it is an action verb like 'apkas' (walk), it is translated as '(along) around'. (Satō 2008: 18) There appears to be no postpositional adverb corresponding to the case particle ta 'at/to'. (proposed in Satō 2008: 36) ani is a postpositional adverb meaning 'with, by means of'. (Satō 2008: 38) ekari is a postpositional adverb meaning 'aiming at, toward'. (Satō 2008: 38) eun is a postpositional adverb meaning 'to, toward the place of'. (Satō 2008: 38) The postposition eyripak (no) means 'keeping pace with, aligned with, together with' and is used both literally and metaphorically. (Satō 2008: 39) The postposition hekota means 'towards, in the direction of'. (Satō 2008: 39) The postposition káma means 'straddling, stepping across' and is sometimes pronounced kama. (Satō 2008: 39) The postposition kari means 'along, through, via'. (Satō 2008: 39) The postposition koraci means 'like, in the same way as'. (Satō 2008: 39) The postposition néno means 'like, as, just as (completely identical)'. (Satō 2008: 40) The postposition okari means 'around'. (Satō 2008: 40) The postposition pak(no) means 'as much as, about' (and might properly be considered an adverbial particle). (Satō 2008: 40) The postposition pes means 'downstream along'. (Satō 2008: 40) The postposition sékor means 'that (quotative), like that'. (Satō 2008: 41) Unlike Japanese particles, Ainu postpositional adverbs can stand alone, in which case they contain pronominal meaning such as 'with it' or 'beside it'. (Satō 2008: 170)
The locative noun or and the ⟨place⟩ requirement
What satisfies the place requirement for local case particles in Hokkaido Ainu?
The conceptual form of a common noun cannot directly precede the locative particle ta and must be followed by a locative positional noun, whereas a positional noun can be directly followed by ta. (Nakagawa 2024: 216) When the locative particle ta is combined with the long form oro, it is pronounced oro ta and usually written as two words. (Nakagawa 2024: 297) When separated from a preceding noun phrase, the case postposition ta cannot form an adverbial phrase unless preceded directly by a spatial/relational noun such as oro. (Nakagawa 2024: 389) The postposition eun is etymologically distinct from the allative postposition un and does not require a grammatical place as its complement. (Nakagawa 2024: 456) In a three-place verb construction, the indirect object may be followed by a case postposition such as orun or orwa. (Refsing 1986: 144) In principle, the noun preceding a case particle must be a locational noun. (Satō 2008: 35) When adding a meaning like 'to' to a noun that is not inherently a locational noun, a postpositional adverb like eun is used instead of a case particle. (Satō 2008: 35) The postposition turasi means 'upstream along'. (Satō 2008: 41)
Case or adposition? The analytical question
What distributional and morphophonological evidence informs the analysis of local markers as case or postpositions?
Case particles cannot occur without an immediately preceding noun phrase, whereas postpositional adverbs can occur independently. (Nakagawa 2024: 296, 389, Satō 2008: 36) The case particle peka is distinct from the transitive verb peka 'to receive' and is not a postpositional adverb, as it grammatically requires an antecedent noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 300) Because ne does not require a locational noun, it may perhaps be considered a postpositional adverb. (proposed in Satō 2008: 36) The comitative marker tura can take personal affixes like a verb. (Shibatani 1990: 36)
Motion-event encoding
How do Hokkaido Ainu motion verbs encode direction, deixis, and spatial dimensions?
Goal is expressed by the allative un or by the locative ta, with the latter seeming to imply achievement. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) 'orowa cannot be used in expressions like puyara * 'orowa 'ahun 'to exit through the window' because a point of origin is required; kaari is used instead. (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition 'iika means 'crossing over', specifically by passing along the surface. (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition kaama means 'crossing over', specifically moving apart/detached from the surface. (Murasaki 2025: 107) The postposition kaari means 'passing through' a place regardless of the means. (Murasaki 2025: 107) In younger-generation speech, ('o) poso is used as a postposition meaning 'passing under', whereas in older-generation speech poso is used as a main verb. (Murasaki 2025: 107) 'okaakari and 'okaakara are postpositions meaning 'passing through'. (Murasaki 2025: 107) san is a verb meaning 'to descend from upstream (mountainside) toward downstream (coast)'. (Satō 2008: 287) The prefixes (h)e- and (h)o- productively indicate motion toward ('facing') and away from ('away from') locations, derived from 'face' and 'hip' respectively. (Shibatani 1990)
Dialect variation in the allative
How does the allative particle vary across Hokkaido Ainu dialects?
When the target rather than the direction is stressed, the postposition unno 'all the way up to' is used to mark the allative case. (Refsing 1986: 167) The postposition pakno, primarily a restrictive marker, can mark the allative case when the target is presented as the extreme limit of the event described by the predicate. (Refsing 1986: 167) hekota is a postposition meaning 'towards', 'in the direction of', phonologically reducing from 'en-hekota to 'enekota. (Murasaki 2025: 108) In older-generation speech, 'etasa is used to mean 'towards', 'in the direction of'. (Murasaki 2025: 108) Among spatial case particles, locative ta, ablative wa, and perlative peka have identical forms across all dialects, but the allative particle 'to' takes un west of Saru and Chitose, en from eastern Hidaka to Tokachi, and ne in other regions. (Nakagawa 2024) In Ishikari Ainu, while (e)ne is also used, the postpositional adverb ekota is strongly preferred to express 'towards'. (Nakagawa 2024: 303) The allative case markers in Hokkaido are considered to have developed from eastern Hokkaido ne through the sound change ne > ene > en > un. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 303) Eastern Hokkaido allative ne is cognate with translative ne ('become'), which in turn is considered a grammaticalized form of the verb ne ('to become'). (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 303) The -un in forms like ekimun ('to the mountains') remains -un even in dialects where the allative case marker is en or (e)ne. (Nakagawa 2024: 304) The allative postposition varies geographically: un occurs west of western Hidaka, en occurs in eastern Hidaka and Tokachi, and (e)ne occurs in eastern, northern, and central Hokkaido. (Nakagawa 2024: 456) In Shizunai Ainu material, locative, allative, and to a lesser extent instrumental relations are predominantly expressed through case postpositions following the noun rather than through applicative verb prefixes. (Refsing 1986: 32) Like ta, un can also indicate the destination of movement, though the difference between the two is not well understood. (Satō 2008: 38)