Knowledge base · Part XI — Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation · this topic as a network

73. Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation: Overview

What valency-changing operations does the language have, and how do they combine and order on the verb?

Ainu has idiomatic verb expressions consisting of two words that form a fixed combination with a meaning beyond the sum of the components, such as kes anpa 'chase' and kasi opas 'go/come to rescue'. (Satō 2008: 230)

The valency system as an arity calculus

How does derivational morphology determine the argument structure of the verb word?

Verbs can shift between transitive and intransitive categories through the addition or removal of verbal prefixes or suffixes. (Refsing 1986: 77) The valency of an Ainu verb is inherently fixed for each lexical base, but can be systematically increased or decreased through morphological devices such as affixes. (Satō 2023)

Inventory of operations

What is the complete set of valency-changing and voice operations, and what is each one's effect on arguments?

Verb prefixes are divided into two main classes: valency-affecting prefixes that influence the number of predicate adjuncts, and adjunct-neutral prefixes that do not. (Refsing 1986) Adjunct-neutral verb prefixes comprise various intensifying prefixes such as ar-, si-, toy-, pit-, sir-, and ru-. (Refsing 1986) Valency-affecting verb prefixes are subdivided into adjunct-reducing prefixes (yay-, u-, si-, and i-) and adjunct-increasing prefixes (e-, ko-, and o-). (Refsing 1986) Ainu has two devices for increasing verbal valency (applicatives and causatives) and five devices for decreasing valency (reflexive, reciprocal, antipassive, anticausative, and noun incorporation). (Bugaeva 2012: 480–481) Ainu features a rich inventory of voice categories. (Bugaeva 2022: 1.1) Verb prefixes comprise three types: intensifying prefixes, adjunct-reducing prefixes (transitive to intransitive), and adjunct-increasing prefixes (intransitive to transitive). (Refsing 1986: 79) The prefixes ar- and si- attach to stative verbs to intensify their meaning. (Refsing 1986) The prefix ru- is used with stative verbs to indicate a slight degree. (Refsing 1986) When the intransitive verb ray 'die' is used as a verb prefix, it indicates a violent degree. (Refsing 1986) The prefixes toy- and pit- both indicate an action of strength, and generally appear in combination with the prefix ko-. (Refsing 1986) The prefix sir- indicates the suddenness of an action and is generally followed by ko- to indicate that the action is directed towards a goal. (Refsing 1986) Verb suffixes can be subdivided into those that have no influence upon the number of adjuncts, transitivizing and causativizing suffixes that allow the predicate to take one extra adjunct, and intransitivizing suffixes that decrease the number of adjuncts. (Refsing 1986: 187) Voice, reciprocal, and reflexive markers, along with other derivational functions, are predominantly marked on verbs by affixes. (Shibatani 1990: 16)

Valency-increasing morphology

How is causativization expressed morphologically, and what allomorphs does the causative marker take?

The nominal prefixes e- ('head of') and o- ('bottom/rear of') attach to transitive verbs without reducing their valency or arity. (Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: 15.4, Nakagawa 2024: 185) Ainu has morphological and lexical causative expressions that increase valency. (Bugaeva 2014) The applicative prefixes e-, o-, and ko-, as well as the causative suffixes -(r)e, -te, and -(y)ar, all produce an increase in valence and yield morphologically transitive constructions. (Shibatani 1990)

Valency-decreasing and rearranging voices

How are valency-decreasing and rearranging voices such as reflexive, reciprocal, middle, and antipassive marked?

Adjunct-reducing prefixes supply the missing direct or indirect object of the predicate, preventing transitive verbs from taking an external object and rendering them intransitive or semitransitive. (Refsing 1986) The lexical noun-origin prefixes he- ('head') and ho- ('bottom') attach immediately before the verbal base and reduce verb valency by one. (Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: 15.4) Sakhalin Ainu has a variety of derivational affixes that modify valency or form reflexive and pluractional stems. (Murasaki 2025: 91) Nominal prefixes he-, ho-, u-, yay-, si-, ci-, and i- attach primarily to transitive verbs and reduce their arity by one. (Nakagawa 2024: 185) There is only one adjunct-reducing suffix, which turns transitive verbs into intransitive verbs. (Refsing 1986: 79) The suffix -ke is the only adjunct-reducing suffix, marking intransitivity on a small set of vowel-final verbs of violent action causing change, where the stem-final vowel is dropped before -ke. (Refsing 1986: 189) When noun incorporation occurs, verbal valency usually decreases and the resulting complex verb becomes intransitive. (Satō 2022: 16.2) Noun incorporation and certain verbal prefixes have the effect of decreasing the verb's valence. (Shibatani 1990) The generalized object prefix i-, the reciprocal u-, and the reflexive prefixes yay- and si- trigger a morphological change whereby transitive personal affixes are replaced by intransitive personal affixes. (Shibatani 1990)

Noun incorporation and wordhood

How does noun incorporation operate, and what does it reveal about the wordhood of the verb?

Ainu can relatively freely form compound verbs that semantically correspond to a whole clause by incorporating an object or subject noun or an adverbial verb into the verb root along with various affixes. (Nakagawa 2024: 480) A connected verb consists of a noun and a verb that act either as a single word or as a two-word combination, functioning as a transitive verb even when forming one word with an incorporated object. (Nakagawa 2024: 495) In noun incorporation, the resulting verb often denotes a conventionalized action and frequently exhibits a specialized meaning. (Satō 2008: 222) When the specific properties or quantities of a noun are at issue, independent noun phrases rather than noun incorporation are used. (Satō 2008: 222) Cases where both an independent noun phrase expression and a corresponding incorporated noun-verb compound reliably coexist are very rare in Ainu. (Satō 2008: 222) When a noun is incorporated into a transitive verb, the transitive verb is normally converted into an intransitive verb. (Satō 2008: 223) When a noun is incorporated into a verb, the number of nominal arguments the verb can take is normally reduced by one. (Satō 2008: 224) When a three-place transitive verb incorporates an object noun, its valency decreases by one, but since it can still take one object, it remains a transitive verb (two-place verb). (Satō 2008: 224) Noun incorporation exists in Ainu as a productive word-formation process in which a noun stem is compounded with a verb stem to form a compound verb. (Satō 2022: 16.1) Ainu possesses a pseudo-incorporation (quasi-incorporation) construction that has the properties of a verb phrase but semantically behaves like noun incorporation. (Satō 2022: 16.1) Pseudo-incorporation in Ainu occurs as an alternative strategy when noun incorporation is blocked by grammatical restrictions. (Satō 2022: 16.1) Noun incorporation in Ainu is highly lexical in nature and typically denotes a nameworthy or institutionalized event in Ainu culture. (Satō 2022: 16.2) Noun incorporation in Ainu is classified into four major types: Object NI (85.9%), Intransitive (Natural Force/Phenomenon) Subject NI (6.8%), Intransitive (Possessor-Requiring) Subject NI (5.6%), and Transitive (Natural Force/Phenomenon) Subject NI (1.7%). (Satō 2022: 16.3)

Stacking, ordering, and the verb-word template

What is the linear order of person markers, valency prefixes, root, suffixes, and causative in the verb word?

The interaction of applicative formation and noun incorporation often cancels out the valency-changing effects on the basic verb morphologically or in terms of the number of bare nominal arguments in the clause. (Shibatani 1990)