Knowledge base · Part XVII — Clause Linkage and Adverbial Subordination · this topic as a network

132. Sequential wa and Clause Chaining

How does the language connect clauses to indicate sequential events and what forms are used?

In Sakhalin Ainu, the conjunctive particle teh indicates that an action finishes before the subsequent action takes place ('after doing, having done'). (Murasaki 2025: 58, 95) In Sakhalin Ainu, the conjunction tex (cognate with Hokkaido te) is also used. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In Saru and Chitose, tek is not used as a conjunctive particle, but functions as an auxiliary verb or secondary particle meaning that an action is performed in a short time ('abruptly, quickly'). (Nakagawa 2024: 343) In western Hokkaido dialects close to Saru, such as Horobetsu and Shizunai, the conjunctive particle tek is semantically constrained to actions in the preceding clause occurring in a short time, whereas other dialects show no such restriction. (Nakagawa 2024: 344) The conjunctionalizer tek is used only rarely in the Shizunai dialect. (Refsing 1986: 246) The meaning of tek is purely temporal, marking that the event in the conjunctionalized sentence occurs before the main predicate with no causal relationship indicated. (Refsing 1986: 246)

Overview

What is the core function of the most common conjunctive particle in the language?

The connective particle wa is thought to derive from the ablative particle wa transferred to temporal relations, indicating that an action concludes and another action follows it. (proposed in Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) wa connects clauses with the meaning of sequential action ("doing ... and then doing ..."). (Murasaki 2025: 59) When two action verbs are conjoined, the conjunctive particle wa is used, but when the first verb expresses a property or state, no is used. (Nakagawa 2022: 14.2) In the Horobetsu, Saru, and Chitose dialects, successive events are primarily linked with wa and hine, while tek is overwhelmingly used as an auxiliary verb indicating that an action occurred in a light, short time. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.4) In the Shizunai, Samani, Tokachi, Kushiro, Shiranuka, and Ishikari dialects, tek is frequently used as a conjunctional particle linking successive events. (Nakagawa & Fukazawa 2022: 8.4) The conjunctive particle wa is one of the most frequently used words in Ainu. (Satō 2008: 45) Wa functions as a coordinate conjunctive particle linking clauses. (Shibatani 1990) In the Sakhalin dialect, wa is used to link two simultaneous activities that are perceived as forming one coherent action. (Shibatani 1990) The conjunctive particle wa is limited to conjoining sentences and verbal phrases. (Shibatani 1990: 22)

Three semantic readings

What semantic interpretations does this particle have and what conditions determine each?

In northern dialects, the sequential connective function of wa is sometimes expressed by tek. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The conjunction wa generally indicates sequential coordination of events, but can also indicate simultaneous events in constructions such as kotan epunkine wa an 'is watching over the village'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) In colloquial Iburi Ainu, wa is omitted only in the combinations rai (wa) oman, kor (wa) oman, and kor (wa) ek. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) The conjunctive particle wa indicates that the preceding and following actions combine into a single integrated action ('doing ~ and ~'). (Murasaki 2025: 96) While wa ('and') can be used similarly to hine, wa is used when the actions of the preceding and following verb phrases are more closely related and unified into a single action, such as in cause-and-effect relations, manner/state descriptions, or continuous action chains. (Nakagawa 2024: 339) In Saru Ainu, wa, kor, and no can be distinguished based on the temporal phase of the preceding verb phrase: wa indicates a resulting state after an action has ended, kor indicates being in the middle of an action, and no indicates a state with no temporal change. (Nakagawa 2024: 341) Verbs like se express the motion up to carrying something on one's back, so that 'going with a load on one's back' is expressed as se wa arpa rather than *se kor arpa, which would mean setting off while loading the burden onto one's back. (Nakagawa 2024: 341) Wa usually links two actions, states, or events by simply enumerating them without prioritizing one over the other. (Refsing 1986: 238) Wa may sometimes indicate a slight temporal relationship, where the event in the conjunctionalized clause precedes the final predicate. (Refsing 1986: 238) A clause conjunctionalized with wa may appear as a prerequisite describing the circumstances under which the action, event, or state expressed in the final predicate is realized. (Refsing 1986: 241) In all cases where wa is used, a very close connection between the conjunctionalized clause and the final predicate is indicated. (Refsing 1986: 241) Western and southern Hokkaido dialects use wa or orwa instead of tek to express 'after (doing A, to do B)'. (Refsing 1986: 246) Expressions linked by wa tend more strongly to represent a single cohesive unit of action as a whole, whereas expressions linked by hine show weaker cohesion. (proposed in Satō 2008: 44) The conjunctive particle wa expresses that an action is performed consecutively following another action, and this sequential meaning can be made explicit by a following adverbial phrase oro wa 'then'. (Satō 2008: 45) The conjunctive particle wa expresses that another action occurs because of a certain action, sometimes followed by the adverb kusu 'therefore'. (Satō 2008: 45) The conjunctive particle wa expresses attendant circumstance and the manner in which an action is performed. (Satō 2008: 46) When wa indicates attendant circumstances, it often implies a certain chronological order rather than completely simultaneous actions. (proposed in Satō 2008: 46)

Subject continuity: statistical preference without a constraint

How does subject continuity pattern in clauses linked by this particle?

The coordinating conjunction wa 'and' is the most commonly used coordinator and can join clauses even when their subjects are non-coreferential. (Bugaeva 2012: 496–497) In about 90% of the examples in the author's Shizunai corpus, the predicates joined by wa share the same subject. (Refsing 1986: 241) Unlike Japanese -te, which requires the omitted subject of the main clause to be coreferential with the subject of the -te clause, Ainu wa appears to have no such constraint. (proposed in Satō 2008: 46)

Multi-clause chains in narrative

How are multiple clauses in narratives structured with this particle?

The culminative ayne

What form marks the endpoint of sustained effort and how does it differ from the sequential particle?

The conjunction aine (derived from a-hine) indicates the result of an action continuing for some time, with meanings such as 'in the course of doing...' or 'in the end'. (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936) Ayne relates two predicates temporally such that the main predicate is realized after the events of the embedded clause have been going on for some time, carrying a nuance of impatience on behalf of the speaker ('and then finally'). (Refsing 1986: 246) The implication of ayne that an act or event has been going on for a long time may be further clarified by using the iterative or durative auxiliary ...-a...-a. (Refsing 1986: 246)

wa as a gateway to the auxiliary system

How is this particle used in periphrastic aspect constructions to express resultative or other nuances?

The dialectal allomorph ma

What phonetic alternation does the particle undergo after nasal-final stems?

In Saru Ainu, ma is an alternating form of the conjunctive particle wa. (Satō 2008: 303, 311) The conjunction wa has the allomorph ma after predicates ending in -n or -m. (Refsing 1986: 241) After verbs with negative meanings, the connective 'doing...' is expressed by no instead of wa. (Satō 2008: 174) The particle wa 'and / -ing' alternates to ma after the consonant n. (Satō 2008: 306) pa is an allomorph or variant of the conjunctive particle wa 'and then / doing...'. (Satō 2008: 371)

Disambiguation

How are homophonous forms of this particle distinguished based on position and syntactic host?

When the predicate of a clause conjunctionalized with wa is the copula ne, it functions together with wa as an emphatic definition of the subject (or occasionally the object) of the final predicate. (Refsing 1986: 241) The ne wa emphatic definition construction is very common with numerical expressions. (Refsing 1986: 241)