Knowledge base · Part VIII — Pronouns, Demonstratives, Postpositions, and Numerals · this topic as a network

52. Relational and Spatial (Locative) Nouns and Their Possessed Forms

How does Hokkaido Ainu encode spatial relations using obligatorily possessed relational nouns?

The class of relational nouns

Which nouns in Hokkaido Ainu form a closed class for expressing spatial relations?

Concept forms of common nouns generally cannot function as grammatical locations, whereas locational nouns are grammatical locations in both their basic and long forms. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.3, Nakagawa 2024: 241) Geographical names and a small set of common nouns such as kotan 'village', kim 'mountains', pis 'seashore', rep 'open sea', and ya 'shore' do not require an intervening relational noun before locative, allative, or ablative postpositions. (Bugaeva 2015: 44) Position nouns (位置名詞) are a variety of nouns with relatively weak independence that combine with a preceding noun to indicate positional or temporal relations with it, and are often followed by case particles such as ta, 'ene, or wa. (Murasaki 2025: 104) Locative nouns can be modified by an antecedent noun phrase or a verb phrase, but cannot be modified by a prenominal. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.3) A noun phrase is required to be grammatically <location> when followed by the locative particle ta, the allative particles un, en, or ne, the ablative particle wa, or the perlative particle peka; when used as the object of an applicative verb in e- or o-; or when used as the object of a locative object verb such as oma, osma, o, or kus. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.3) In the Saru dialect, ordinary nouns in their conceptual forms such as situ 'ridge', cise 'house', iwor so 'hunting grounds', and kakenca 'clothes hanging rack' are ungrammatical in locative expressions directly with ta, un, e-, or osma. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.3) A noun phrase lacking the feature <location> cannot be immediately followed by a locative case particle or serve as the object of a locative object verb. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.4) The ordinary noun kotan 'village' can take the locative case particle ta directly in its conceptual form across all dialects. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.4) The ordinary noun cise 'house' is treated as having the feature <location> in many dialects, but not in the Saru and Chitose dialects. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.4) The base form of Type 1 positional nouns and formal nouns cannot independently serve as the subject or object of a verb. (Nakagawa 2024: 214) Positional nouns and pronouns cannot be adnominally modified by a verb phrase or clause. (Nakagawa 2024: 215) The basic and long forms of locational nouns have often been called concept form and affiliative form, but are termed basic form (or short form) and long form here because their morphological formation and grammar differ from those of common nouns. (Nakagawa 2024: 239) The element te is considered a spatial noun rather than an adnominal demonstrative because it cannot modify a noun directly (e.g. *te menoko 'this woman'). (Nakagawa 2024: 289) Place names generally function directly as <place> expressions in Ainu. (Nakagawa 2024: 460) Positionals generally refer to position in space, but a few may also refer to position in time. (Refsing 1986: 123) When referring to time, positionals may either follow nouns that specify a temporal point of reference, or follow verbs to indicate a temporal relationship between actions or events. (Refsing 1986: 123) Directional noun prefixes only appear with positionals or with nouns denoting a specific location. (Refsing 1986: 159) Positionals usually follow a general noun that establishes the locational reference point. (Refsing 1986: 274) Ainu has particle-like elements as well as locational nouns that indicate spatial orientation. (Shibatani 1990: 38)

Inventory and semantics

What are the core relational nouns in Hokkaido Ainu and their spatial meanings?

Locational nouns denoting 'above' distinguish ka ('contiguously above'), enka ('non-contiguously / distantly above'), and kurka ('spreadingly / expansively above'). (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5, Nakagawa 2024: 241) The Sakhalin locative noun oro corresponds to Hokkaido dialect or, but unlike Hokkaido dialects, Sakhalin lacks an or / or-o distinction. (Bugaeva 2022: 20.6) Adverbs denoting opposing directions form paired sets of special morphological patterns. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The prefix en- indicates non-contact spatial interval or separation, contrasting ka 'on (in contact)' with en-ka 'over (separated)' and pok 'under (in contact)' with en-pok 'below (separated)'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The prefix tui- occurs pleonastically before relational nouns, as in tui-ka (= ka 'top'), tui-pok (= pok 'under'), and tui-sam (= sam 'side'). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The root-final consonant -k frequently carries a locative meaning, as in rik 'high place', pok 'under', mak 'behind', kopak 'beside', and hunak 'where'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In elder speech, kaa corresponds to standard kaske 'on (in contact with)'. (Murasaki 2025: 18) In elder speech, 'enkaa corresponds to 'enkaske 'above (separated from)'. (Murasaki 2025: 18) The spatial noun 'empoke denotes the space right underneath, whether in contact or separated. (Murasaki 2025: 43) In older usage, 'enkaa denotes a separated space above. (Murasaki 2025: 43) 'enkaske denotes a separated space above. (Murasaki 2025: 43) Among elderly speakers of Sakhalin Ainu, kaa is used to designate the space immediately above something in physical contact. (Murasaki 2025: 46) Among elderly speakers of Sakhalin Ainu, ko'ekaari is used to mean 'in the middle of, during the course of'. (Murasaki 2025: 47) In Sakhalin Ainu, 'onnayke refers specifically to the interior of an enclosed space. (Murasaki 2025: 65) Locative nouns based on pok lack a contiguous versus non-contiguous distinction, and enpok occurs only in the fixed expression aman enpok 'under the beam'. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) The locative pair etok and oka denotes 'before' and 'behind' something moving or in a linear or temporal sense, whereas kotca and osmak denote 'before' and 'behind' something stationary and cannot express temporal relations. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) The locative noun tum expresses the inside of something homogeneous (such as earth, water, or wind), while onnay expresses the inside of something hollow (such as a house, boat, or container). (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) The Type 1 locational noun corpok means 'below' and has the long forms corpok-ke-he and corpok-i-ke-he. (Nakagawa 2024: 241) The Type 1 locational noun etok means 'front (of a moving object or on a line)' or 'temporally before', and its long form is etok-o-ho. (Nakagawa 2024: 241) The locative noun ka 'above, top' refers to a position in direct contact with what precedes it. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) The locative noun enka refers to a position above the antecedent with a distance, not in direct contact with it. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) The locative noun kurka refers to an area above that has spatial extension rather than being at a single point. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) Numerous locative nouns have ka as their root, including mawka 'windward', rewka 'upper side of something slanted', tuyka 'upper side', and tapka 'top of a slight elevation'. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) In many dialects, corpok is the primary noun used to express 'under, below'. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) The root pok 'under' occurs only after a restricted set of words such as nupuri 'mountain', situ 'ridge', puyar 'window', and apa 'doorway'. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) Nouns derived from the root pok, such as rewpok, tuypok, and monpok, do not distinguish between being in contact below versus being separated below. (Nakagawa 2024: 243) The locative nouns etok and oka express 'in front of' and 'behind' for moving entities, whereas kotca and osmak express 'in front of' and 'behind' for stationary entities. (Nakagawa 2024: 244) The locative nouns etok and oka are used for linearly extended things such as paths, and for temporal 'before' and 'after', whereas kotca and osmak have no temporal uses. (Nakagawa 2024: 244) In prose folktales sam is more frequently attested for 'beside', whereas teksam is often used in ritual prayers (inonno-itak), suggesting that teksam is more poetic. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 245) The locative noun onnay, which expresses 'inside a hollow entity' (such as a house, boat, or box), is used in the Saru, Chitose, and Ishikari dialects. (Nakagawa 2024: 245) The locative noun tum, which expresses 'inside something homogeneously filled with the same material' (such as soil, wind, or woods), is used throughout Hokkaido. (Nakagawa 2024: 245) The locative noun oske, which covers both hollow interiors and homogeneous interiors, is found over a wide area, but has few attestations in Saru and Chitose. (Nakagawa 2024: 245) The people living to the east of the Shizunai river were termed menas un kur ("eastern people"), while those to the west were termed sum un kur ("western people"). (Refsing 1986: 54) The element orke in neorkeka is a positional noun meaning 'the place inside'. (Refsing 1986) In the Shizunai dialect, armoysam is a positional meaning 'some distance from' (possibly derived from sam). (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, corpok is a positional meaning 'under, below', which has the -ke form corpokke. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, epis or epit is a positional meaning 'all over'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, erpak is a positional meaning 'next to, together with'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, esokayne is a positional meaning 'far beyond'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, esor is a positional meaning 'down along (the river)', which has the belonging form esoro. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, etok is a positional meaning 'before, in front of', which has the belonging form etoko. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, ka(si) is a positional meaning 'above, over, on top of', which has the -ke form kasike. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, kari is a positional meaning 'through'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, kes is a positional meaning 'the lower part of'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, kopak is a positional meaning 'towards, in the direction of'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, kotca is a positional meaning 'the front side of', which has the -ke form kotcake. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, kotor is a positional meaning 'the (under)side of', which has the belonging form kotoro. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, mekka(si) is a positional meaning 'the upper side of, the ridge of', which has the -ke form mekkasike. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, noski is a positional meaning 'in the midst of'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, okari or oykari is a positional meaning 'around'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, or is a positional meaning 'in/at a place', which has the belonging form oro and the -ke form orke. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, os is a positional meaning 'inside', which has the -ke form oske. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, osmak is a positional meaning 'behind'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, pa is a positional meaning 'the upper part of', which has the -ke form pake(he). (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, rapok is a positional meaning 'during, while', which has the -ke form rapoke. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, sam is a positional meaning 'beside, next to', which has the belonging form sama and the -ke form samake. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, senpir is a positional meaning 'hidden by, in the shadow of', which has the belonging form senpiri. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, soy is a positional meaning 'outside'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, soy(e)kari is a positional meaning 'around (outside)'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, tom or tum is a positional meaning 'inside, in the middle of', which has the belonging form tomo. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, turasi is a positional meaning 'up along (the river)'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, usar has the -ke form usarke meaning 'following, next'. (Refsing 1986: 124) In the Shizunai dialect, utur is a positional meaning 'between, among', which has the belonging form uturu(hu) and the -ke form uturke. (Refsing 1986: 124) The word piskan can function as an independent noun meaning 'various places' or 'everywhere'. (Refsing 1986: 159) The positionals esoro and turasi can be analyzed as marking the traversal case. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 169) Both turasi and esoro express the meaning 'along', but in connection with a river, turasi means 'along the river upwards' whereas esoro means 'along (the river) downwards'. (Refsing 1986: 169) Sequential relationships can also be explicitly expressed using a locational noun followed by a case particle, such as oka ta ('after') or etok ta ('before'). (Satō 2008: 46) The spatial noun teta alone can express the meaning 'here'. (Satō 2008: 132) The noun kim means 'mountain' as a spatial domain contrasting with the beach or sea (pis), rather than a specific topographical mountain. (Satō 2008: 286) The spatial expression for 'down / downward (to the riverbank)' is ra ta. (Satō 2008: 293) The noun noski means 'middle, center (not edge)'. (Satō 2008: 297) The noun hontom means 'midway, in the middle of'. (Satō 2008: 363) The phrase sukup hontom ta can be interpreted to mean 'in the middle of life', i.e., 'in one's youth'. (Satō 2008: 364) In the northern dialects of the Karafuto west coast, there are no attested examples of the bare root form san (< sam) 'beside'. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)

The long-form suffixes -ke, -V, and -si

What suffixes form the possessed long forms of relational nouns in Hokkaido Ainu?

The suffix -ke attaches to nouns (both concept and affiliative forms) to express a locative sense ('place'), as in chorpoki = chorpokike 'under (it)' and kashi = kashike 'above (it)'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The suffix -shi functions as an intensive suffix, as seen in kashi '(the space) right above it' and emphatic particles like neshi and tashi. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) tunke is the concept form (base form) of the relational noun meaning "inside". (Murasaki 2025: 59) Locative nouns have two forms, a basic form and a long form. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Unlike the basic form ka, the long form of a locational noun like kasi does not require an immediately preceding noun and can stand alone as a noun phrase at the beginning of a clause. (Nakagawa 2024: 239) The long form of locational nouns is formed by suffixes, frequently using an echo vowel or the suffix -ke, or special endings like -si in ka-si, which differs morphologically from the affiliative form formation of common nouns. (Nakagawa 2024: 240) In the -V type formation of locative noun long forms, the last vowel of the basic form is echoed as a suffix, as seen in sam -> sam-a, tum -> tum-u, tom -> tom-o, and or -> or-o. (Nakagawa 2024: 247) In the -i type of locative nouns, -i suffixes to the basic form, occurring in only a very small number of examples such as piskan-i and corpok-i. (Nakagawa 2024: 248) In the -si type of locative nouns, -si suffixes to the basic form, occurring only with nouns having ka 'above, top' as their root. (Nakagawa 2024: 248) In the -ke type of locative nouns, -ke suffixes either to the basic form or to a long form formed by another process. (Nakagawa 2024: 248) The long form osmak-e 'behind (a stationary object)' may be a shortened form of osmak-ke. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 248) In the -hV type of locative nouns, -h plus an echo vowel identical to the preceding stem-final vowel suffixes to a long form produced by another morphological formation. (Nakagawa 2024: 249) Unlike common nouns, vowel-final locative nouns such as oka and kotca never directly take -hV (*okaha, *kotcaha); instead, -he attaches to a stem that has first formed a -ke long form (oka-ke-he, kotca-ke-he). (Nakagawa 2024: 249) Many positionals have an alternative form ending in -ke. (Refsing 1986: 123) According to Chiri (1942: 127), the preference for positional forms ending in -ke over shorter forms may be solely a matter of sentence rhythm. (reported in Refsing 1986: 123) According to Chiri (1936), the element -ke in positionals means 'place'. (reported in Refsing 1986: 123) In Shizunai data, positional forms ending in -ke tend slightly to be preferred when the location is perceived as a fixed location where a state exists, while shorter forms prevail when the location is temporary, relative, or the site of actions and events. (Refsing 1986: 123)

Obligatory possession and affiliative forms

How does obligatory possession apply to relational nouns in Hokkaido Ainu?

The positional noun or 'place, inside' has the affiliative form oro. (Satō 2008: 163, 371) Relational nouns take possessive suffixes only with third-person animate possessors, not with inanimate possessors. (Bugaeva 2012: 470–471) The choice between conceptual and possessive forms of relational nouns is governed by the animacy of the preceding noun, where animates require possessive forms and inanimates most commonly co-occur with conceptual forms. (Bugaeva 2012: 500–501) The choice between citation and possessive forms of relational nouns is partly determined by the animacy of the preceding noun, with animate nouns requiring possessive forms. (Bugaeva 2015: 44) Relational terms such as sam-a 'near him', etok-o 'in front of him', and corpok-i 'under him' belong to the class of inalienables. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.5) Possessive/affiliative suffixes are not required with relational nouns when they are prefixed for person. (Bugaeva 2022: 20.6) Positional nouns cannot function as independent nouns on their own, but when placed after a reference noun and converted into their possessed (affiliative) form, they function as independent nouns. (Murasaki 2025: 17) In the Chitose dialect, when the antecedent immediately precedes and denotes a person, the affiliative form oro is used instead of basic or, expressing 'where someone lives, a house'. (reported in Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) In nouns representing human beings, even the possessed (affiliative) form cannot directly become a <place>, and the following spatial noun takes the long form oro, as noted by Sato (2008a) for Chitose and confirmed for Saru. (reported in Nakagawa 2024: 460) Some positionals have a belonging form that is used when the relationship to the reference noun is stressed, as if inalienably possessed by its point of reference. (Refsing 1986: 123) The belonging form of positionals is mostly used in expressions for fixed locations, and sometimes such expressions form an idiom. (Refsing 1986: 123) Positional nouns take special affiliative forms when undergoing personal inflection, but there is no clear general rule for what shape their affiliative forms take. (Satō 2008: 161) The positional noun corpok 'under' has the affiliative form corpoki(ke). (Satō 2008: 161) The positional noun enka '(separated) above' has the affiliative form enkasi(ke). (Satō 2008: 161) The positional noun etok 'ahead, before (in time)' has the affiliative form etoko. (Satō 2008: 162) The positional noun ka 'on, above (in contact)' has the affiliative form kasi(ke). (Satō 2008: 162) The positional noun kotca 'in front' has the affiliative form kotcake. (Satō 2008: 162) In principle, or takes the affiliative (third-person) form oro only when its antecedent noun is at a distance. (Satō 2008: 163) The positional noun osmak 'back, behind' has the affiliative form osmake. (Satō 2008: 163) The positional noun sam 'beside, near' has the affiliative form sama. (Satō 2008: 163) When a noun without a demonstrative or determiner immediately precedes a locational noun, the locational noun usually remains in its concept form rather than taking the affiliative form. (Satō 2008: 164) When a personal prefix attaches to a locational noun, the locational noun may take the affiliative form. (Satō 2008: 164) Some locational nouns take the affiliative form only when indexed for third person (with zero prefix), remaining in the concept form with other person prefixes. (Satō 2008: 165) In some dialects, such as the Shizunai dialect, locational nouns are not put into the affiliative form in relative clauses, but the noun is simply placed at the end (e.g. ot ta instead of oro ta). (Satō 2008: 172) kasi is the affiliative (possessed) form of ka 'top, surface'. (Satō 2008: 369) A number of locative nouns like kaa 'above' and soy 'outside' have no affiliative forms and always appear alone directly followed by locative case particles. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) When a locative noun is followed by a simple locative case particle, it appears in its conceptual form and does not change to its affiliative form. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) The affiliative form of a locative noun is used with non-locative verbs to show the possessor or possessee of the verb's subject or object. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) In Karafuto dialects, compounded locative case particles can follow either the conceptual form or the affiliative form of ordinary nouns. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) Ainu he-ya-ru-ka-he, composed of the directional prefix he-, ya 'dry land', ru 'way', ka 'top', and the possessive suffix -he, means 'on his way to the dry land'. (Vovin 2022: 6.6)

The layered locative construction

What is the structure of the layered locative construction in Hokkaido Ainu?

Adverbial expressions specifying locations are formed by suffixing a locative case postposition to a positional. (Refsing 1986: 135) Positionals appearing without a locative case postposition can by themselves form adverbial adjuncts. (Refsing 1986: 135) Most nouns cannot combine directly with locative and spatial postpositions; a relational noun must intervene between the noun and postposition. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Locative, allative, and ablative postpositions generally cannot attach directly to common nouns; an intervening relational noun such as or(-o) or sam(-a) must be inserted. (Bugaeva 2015: 44) Because words corresponding to case particles mostly require a location, noun phrases combined with them often consist of a common noun plus a locational noun, or a locational noun alone. (Nakagawa 2024: 388) Common nouns like atuy 'sea', cise 'house', and saranip 'bag' are not grammatical places on their own and cannot take the locative particle ta directly (*atuy ta is ungrammatical); they require a positional noun like ka 'on', onnay 'inside', or or 'place' to form a grammatical place. (Nakagawa 2024: 457) Ordinary nouns cannot be directly followed by a locative case particle; only locative nouns can appear directly before them. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)

The central role of or

How has the relational noun 'or' grammaticalized into a general locative in Hokkaido Ainu?

In the Saru and Chitose dialects, the basic form or cannot appear sentence-initially, and the long form oro must be used instead. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) In the Tokachi and Ishikari dialects, combinations of the basic form or plus a case particle, such as otta or or en, can appear at the beginning of a sentence. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) In many dialects outside of Saru and Chitose, forms like otta, orun, oren, and onne can stand at the beginning of a sentence. (Nakagawa 2024: 240) In the Saru and Chitose dialects, the combination otta (or ta) cannot occur sentence-initially, requiring the long form oro ta instead. (Nakagawa 2024: 240) Sentence-initial otta in dialects that allow it is analyzed as an unanalyzable single-word post-adverb, because other locational nouns in basic forms (e.g. *etok ta) cannot occur sentence-initially in those dialects. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 240) By far the most frequently appearing positional in the Shizunai dialect is or ('in, at'), which is rarely used without a supporting case postposition. (Refsing 1986: 124) The positional or covers a wide range of meanings and functions with the help of various case postpositions. (Refsing 1986: 124) The form otta is historically derived from or ta. (Refsing 1986: 124) When or is combined with the locative case postposition ta (forming otta), it usually indicates the place where a state of affairs exists or where an action or event takes place. (Refsing 1986: 124) With verbs of movement, otta may also indicate the direction or goal of that movement. (Refsing 1986: 124) When used with verbs of motion, orun has the same function as otta, indicating direction or goal. (Refsing 1986: 124) Between otta and orun, the difference may be that with otta the goal is emphasized, whereas with orun the direction is emphasized. (proposed in Refsing 1986: 124) The positional form orun may indicate the indirect object when it is marked. (Refsing 1986) The complex positional orwa(no) is used to indicate movement away from somewhere. (Refsing 1986) When joined with pakno, or often replaces the noun that pakno refers to. (Refsing 1986) A direction toward a non-locational noun can also be expressed using the locational noun or 'place', as in unarpe or un 'to the aunt's place'. (Satō 2008: 36) As a special usage, oro can appear immediately after a noun phrase referring to a human, acquiring the concrete meaning of 'dwelling place, house'. (Satō 2008: 163) The antecedent of a locative noun can be omitted if the location has already been mentioned or is already known. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)

First-class and second-class locative nouns

What distinguishes first-class and second-class locative nouns in Hokkaido Ainu?

Only a few common nouns (such as kotan 'village', kim 'mountains', pis 'beach', rep 'open sea', ya 'shore', put 'river mouth') and geographical names can take spatial postpositions directly without a relational noun. (Bugaeva 2012: 476–477) Postpositional particles in locative expressions obligatorily require a noun phrase to designate a location, either being a category 2 locative noun or an ordinary noun combined with a category 1 locative noun. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) Ainu distinguishes grammatically between locations and non-locations even with arguments of two- or three-place transitive verbs that take an object with the semantic role of Location. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.4) Spatial relationship words indicating positions such as inside, outside, front, back, above, and below are all originally nouns, presenting an abstract form (Type I, mainly used as postpositions with -ta or -un) and a concrete form (Type II, used as postpositions or sentence-initial adverbs). (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The adjectival suffix -un, originally a verb meaning 'to fit in' or 'to be attached to', forms locative adjectives from spatial and environmental nouns. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Type I directional adverbs are formed with he- (facing toward) and ho- (buttocks/facing away), while Type II adverbs are formed with e- and o-. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) For category 1 locative nouns, the basic form requires an immediately preceding noun phrase or person affix as an antecedent, whereas the long form can appear without an overt antecedent. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Category 2 locative nouns do not require an antecedent noun phrase even in their basic forms. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Category 2 locative nouns basically occur in antonymous pairs denoting opposite directions along an axis, such as kim vs. pis, rep vs. ya, rik vs. ra, sa vs. mak, cupka vs. cuppok, and pena vs. pana. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Directional adverbs and verbs can be derived from category 2 locative nouns by sandwiching them between a directional prefix (he-, ho-, e-, o-) and a verb stem (asi, un, ne). (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Category 2 locative nouns form a set of adverb patterns indicating directionality. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.7) Type 2 locative nouns differ from Type 1 in that even in their basic forms they can stand clause-initially without an antecedent, not requiring their reference point to be explicitly expressed by an antecedent. (Nakagawa 2024: 246) When Type 2 locative nouns take personal affixes, they take objective personal prefixes. (proposed in Nakagawa 2024: 246) Unlike common nouns like nupuri 'mountain', pet 'river', and atuy 'sea', Type 2 locative nouns like kim 'mountainward' and pis 'beachward' are grammatically treated as spatial locations without requiring an additional locative noun. (Nakagawa 2024: 247) Type 2 locative nouns can fill the blank in e-...-ne, o-...-ne, e-...-un, o-...-un, he-...-asi, and ho-...-asi to form verbs or adverbs meaning 'to/towards ...' or 'from ...'. (Nakagawa 2024: 247) First-class locational nouns in basic form have an arity of 0; in long form, they have an arity of -1 without an antecedent and 0 with an antecedent, as do second-class locational nouns. (Nakagawa 2024: 367) The verb omare in principle takes a locational noun phrase headed by a locational noun as one of its arguments. (Satō 2023) Certain transitive verbs can only take locative nouns as their object. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) Place names and the words cise 'house' and kotan 'village' have characteristics of both ordinary and locative nouns, and can be followed by either simple locative case particles or compounded locative case particles. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) The noun wahka 'water' almost always appears in its conceptual form followed by onne or ohta, and never as *wahkaha ohta, *wahka ene, or *wahka ta. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5) In Karafuto Ainu, the noun kotan 'village' can take locative case particles directly in its conceptual form, unlike other ordinary nouns and unlike cise. (proposed in Tangiku 2022: 9.5)

Non-third-person possession

How are non-third-person possessors marked on relational nouns in Hokkaido Ainu?

Personal affixes can attach to both the basic form and the long form of locative nouns. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5, Nakagawa 2024: 216) Relational (positional) nouns take objective (O-series) rather than subjective (A-series) personal affixes to mark their reference point or possessor. (Bugaeva 2012: 470–471, Satō 2008: 160) Positionals can combine with pronominal prefixes in the objective case. (Refsing 1986: 79) The possessed suffix is not required on relational nouns when they have first- or second-person possessors. (Bugaeva, Nichols & Bickel 2022) Relational spatial nouns govern the objective case and take objective personal affixes when relating to persons. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The possessive person prefixes that attach to locative nouns are formally identical to the objective person affixes of transitive verbs. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.5) Unlike common nouns, the reference position preceding a locational noun can be filled by an objective personal affix, allowing even the basic form to stand at clause head. (Nakagawa 2024: 241) While personal affixes attach only to affiliative forms in common nouns, in locational nouns personal affixes attach to both basic forms and long forms alike. (Nakagawa 2024: 241) The postpositional adverb os 'after' can take the personal affix i= 'my' to form an adverbial phrase. (Nakagawa 2024: 387) Positionals may attach to a personal affix in the objective case to indicate spatial position in relation to the speaker or addressee. (Refsing 1986) In the author's analysis, positionals may attach to an objective personal affix to indicate position relative to the speaker or addressee, which is analogous to their attaching to nouns that serve as a reference point. (Refsing 1986: 27) Unlike ordinary nouns, the objective personal affixes on positional nouns indicate the reference point of the spatial relation rather than a possessor. (Satō 2008: 160) When the first-person singular object prefix attaches to sam 'beside', the form is en-sam rather than *en-sama. (Satō 2008: 165) When the first-person singular object prefix attaches to or 'place', the form is en-or rather than *en-oro. (Satō 2008: 165) For some locational nouns, concept and affiliative forms can both occur after a person prefix, as in en-etok ta and en-etoko ta. (Satō 2008: 165) tapkasike 'on the shoulder' is considered a type of locational noun, so the second-person singular personal affix e- attached to it is interpreted as objective. (Satō 2008: 242) When the person representing the reference point of a positional noun is coreferential with the subject of the verb, it must obligatorily be marked on the positional noun with the reflexive prefix si-. (Satō 2008: 252) To indicate the reference point of position on a positional noun, si- is exclusively used, whereas yay- is not used. (Satō 2008: 252) Object-marking personal affixes can mark locational and directional forms such as orowa 'from there' and orota 'there'. (Shibatani 1990)

Noun or adposition?

Are relational nouns in Hokkaido Ainu better analyzed as nouns or postpositions?

When a position noun is followed by the locative case particle -ta 'at, in', it forms an adverbial phrase/clause. (Murasaki 2025: 104) Marking for <location> serves the function of clarifying syntactic roles in Ainu clauses. (proposed in Nakagawa 2022: 14.7) A noun phrase must qualify as a grammatical 'place' (〈場所〉) in three constructions: before a locative case particle, as the object of locative applicative e- or o-, or as the object of a locative-object verb. (Nakagawa 2024: 456) Positional nouns are always treated as grammatical places, regardless of whether they appear in basic or long form, or whether they belong to Type 1 or Type 2. (Nakagawa 2024: 458) rapok(i) (ke) (ta), originally a locational noun, can occur after verb phrases or conjunctional particles and can function as an adverbial connecting phrase even without the case particle ta, meaning 'while', 'in the meantime', or 'on the other hand'. (Nakagawa 2024: 517) Positionals are frequently tied to a general noun specifying their locative reference, and in such constructions they cannot quite be considered free forms. (Refsing 1986: 75) Positionals occasionally occur in isolation. (Refsing 1986: 75) Noun prefixes are a very small set of morphemes predominantly expressing direction, and are primarily used with positionals or general nouns denoting location. (Refsing 1986: 77) Positionals are semi-free nominal forms that usually appear after nouns and, with or without case postpositions, form relational adjuncts to the predicate. (Refsing 1986) The noun to which a positional is joined serves as the reference point for the position indicated by the positional. (Refsing 1986) Locative nouns can directly follow a verb phrase without modification, without requiring a nominalizing suffix or a formal noun. (Tangiku 2022: 9.5)