Knowledge base · Part IX — The Verb: Structure, Transitivity, and Verbal Number · this topic as a network
56. The Verb Word and Its Position-Class Template
What is the internal architecture of the Ainu verb word, and how are its prefix, stem, and suffix positions ordered?
The verb word as the head of its clause
How does the Ainu verb word function as the head of its clause, and what role do its bound indexes play in tracking participants?
Verbal morphology in Hokkaido Ainu makes no distinction between finite and non-finite forms, with all verbs exhibiting finite morphology (Bugaeva 2016). Ainu verbs themselves do not distinguish continuative and terminal forms, so that the verbal form alone does not indicate whether a clause has ended or continues (Nakagawa 2024: 363). Across Ainu, no prefix can precede a personal prefix and no suffix can follow a personal suffix, making person affixes diagnostic of the verb word boundary (Bugaeva & Kobayashi 2022: 15.2). In a single verb phrase, there is only one main verb, defined as the verb that takes personal affixes (Nakagawa 2024: 370). As a general rule, only the main verb takes a subject personal affix, and it always occupies the initial position within the verb phrase (Nakagawa 2024: 368). The basic structure of the Ainu verb phrase is [[Verb] { ([Auxiliary verb]) / ([Secondary particle]) ([Transitive verb used as auxiliary]) } ([Adverbial element] [Formal verb])] (Nakagawa 2024: 370). In Sakhalin Ainu, the verb phrase occurs in six structural configurations: verb stem alone, verb plus derivational affix, verb plus personal affix, verb plus auxiliary verb, verb phrase plus sentence-final particle, or coordinated verb phrases linked by a conjunctive particle (Murasaki 2025: 91). In the Shizunai dialect, a verb may be expanded into a longer verb expression by adding prefixes, suffixes, pronominal affixes, and auxiliaries (Refsing 1986). Such verb expressions in Shizunai may be further expanded by the addition of sentence-final forms or suffixes (Refsing 1986: 271).
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A position-class template
What is the position-class template for the finite Ainu verb word, and which categories occupy each position?
The bound forms that combine with verbs are divided into verb prefixes, verb suffixes, verb auxiliaries, and pronominal affixes (Refsing 1986: 31). The verb stem itself does not change its form according to grammatical person, with only the pronominal affix changing (Refsing 1986: 29). In Hokkaido Ainu, personal affixes occupy the outermost position of the verb word, such that elements occurring outside them are separate words rather than parts of the verb (Nakagawa 2024: 210). In Shizunai, pronominal affixes are ordered outside verb prefixes and suffixes, preceding or following the extended verb expression (Refsing 1986). In the Ainu verb complex, personal prefixes occur before all other verbal prefixes (Shibatani 1990). In this prefix sequence, a subject prefix precedes an object prefix (Shibatani 1990). An object prefix does not co-occur with the generalized object prefix, the reflexive prefix, or the reciprocal prefix (Shibatani 1990), and these three prefixes are mutually exclusive with one another (Shibatani 1990). In Hokkaido Ainu, nominal prefixes and applicative prefixes attach before the verb root; their relative linear order depends on the meaning of the derived verb, and multiple prefixes of the same category can co-occur (Nakagawa 2024: 210). For Saru Ainu, the verb template is reported to contain six affix positions: three prefix slots (applicatives e-, ko-, o-; reciprocal/reflexive/generalized object u-, yay-, si-, i-; applicatives) and three suffix slots (number, transitivity, causative -re, -e, -te, -yar) (reported in Bugaeva 2012: 480–481, Refsing 1986). In Southwestern Hokkaido Ainu, no single verb has been attested that fills all six voice affix slots simultaneously while also incorporating a noun (Bugaeva 2012: 480–481). Bugaeva proposes that the causative suffix -re/-e/-te can appear in two distinct template slots: transitivizing slot V and indirect causative slot VI (proposed in Bugaeva 2014). In the verbal suffix template across Ainu, the plural or number marker precedes the causative suffix -re, which in turn precedes the iterative aspect suffix -pa (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936, Shibatani 1990). The iterative suffix occurs at the very end of the verb word, following other suffixes like the causative (Shibatani 1990: 54). In Saru, the plural suffix -pa is placed inside derivational affixes like causative -re, whereas the clitic or auxiliary pa is placed outside derivational affixes (Nakagawa 2022: 17.5, Nakagawa 2024: 156). Auxiliary pa follows personal affixes, whereas suffix -pa precedes personal affixes in Saru (Nakagawa 2024: 156). A verb form like a=e=si-ko-ek-te 'I made you come to me' consists of six elements and forms a complete clause in a single word, where the only free element is the verb root ek and all other elements (a=, e=, si-, ko-, -te) are affixes, illustrating polysynthesis without noun incorporation (Nakagawa 2024: 481). In Shizunai, most verbs can take one or more prefixes and suffixes, which may change both the meaning and the grammatical properties of the verb (Refsing 1986: 140). Transitive and intransitive verbs may take one or more verb prefixes directly (Refsing 1986: 79, 176). Verb prefixes have no general sequential ordering rule in Shizunai, but in combinations containing multiple prefixes the order is fixed and lexicalized (Refsing 1986: 176). The versatility of verb prefixes in Shizunai is limited and their productivity is restricted, appearing almost totally lexicalized when two or more prefixes combine (Refsing 1986: 45). As many as five different prefixes may combine before a single verb stem, though two or three is the typical number (Refsing 1986: 183). The prefixes i-, e-, and ko- may each occur twice in a single prefix cluster before a verb, whereas yay- and u- may occur only once (Refsing 1986: 183). The prefixes o- and si- occur much less frequently than other verbal prefixes in the Shizunai material (Refsing 1986: 183). Verb suffixes in Shizunai join the verb closely without pause or interpolation of other elements to form a single lexical item, whereas auxiliary verbs attach more freely (Refsing 1986: 191). When a pronominal suffix occurs in an auxiliary construction in Shizunai, it is always placed between the main verb and the auxiliary verb (Refsing 1986: 191). In analytic auxiliary constructions formed with a secondary verb in Shizunai, a pronominal affix may be repeated on the secondary verb (Refsing 1986: 191).
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Transitivity as the organizing axis
How is transitivity formally determined in the Ainu verb word, and what two diagnostics define it?
Across Ainu, the arity of a verb phrase inherits the arity of its main verb (Nakagawa 2024: 368). In Shizunai, closed verbs have no possibility of expansion, whereas transitive and intransitive verbs may be built into longer verb expressions through the addition of pronominal affixes, verb prefixes, verb suffixes, and auxiliaries (Refsing 1986: 271).
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Valence classes and what counts as a verb word
How are Ainu verbs classified by valence, and what do the numeric labels 0- to 3-argument indicate?
In Class III (incorporating) verbs, all subject personal affixes are infixed, whereas only object personal affixes are prefixed (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). In Hokkaido complex predicates, Takahashi reports that both verbs contained in the predicate can take person affixes (reported in Takahashi 2022: 18.3).
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Valency-changing morphology in the template
Which positions in the Ainu verb template alter argument count, and in what direction does each change it?
In Shizunai, verb suffixes attach to transitive and intransitive verbs and comprise adjunct-neutral suffixes, one adjunct-reducing suffix, and adjunct-increasing suffixes (Refsing 1986: 79).
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The stem zone and verbal number
How does Ainu express number on verbs rather than nouns, and which verbs have suppletive singular/plural stems?
Except for singular and plural alternations in certain verbs, Ainu verbs do not inflect or conjugate, rendering the term conjugation inappropriate (Refsing 1986: 31, 140). In Hokkaido Ainu, the plural suffix -pa is classified as a formative suffix, and other formative suffixes never co-occur with -pa (Nakagawa 2024: 210).
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Debates that shape the template
What unresolved analytical questions shape the interpretation of the Ainu verb template?
Ainu verbal structure is reported to possess a mixed templatic and scopal organization, in which the suffixed domain is templatic and the prefixed domain is scopal (reported in Bugaeva 2022: 1.4). Auxiliary verbs are defined as postverbal invariable particles that attach to verbs to form new verb phrases, and unlike verbs, they undergo no person inflection at all (Satō 2008: 78, Nakagawa 2024: 305). In Saru, genuine auxiliary verbs do not function as independent verbs and, with the exception of rusuy, generally do not fuse with the preceding verb into a single verb (Nakagawa 2024: 305). In Horobetsu, -ci precedes person affixes and forms part of the stem, as in iki-ci=as, whereas in Shizunai, ci follows person affixes outside the verb, as in hotke=an ci, reflecting the difference between suffix and auxiliary verb (Nakagawa 2024: 156). In Shizunai, verb auxiliaries are treated as optional members of a verb expression (Refsing 1986: 46). In that dialect, mode of action, aspect, and modality are expressed by auxiliaries that attach to the verb in its extended form (Refsing 1986: 140).
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