Knowledge base · source

Alonso de la Fuente 2022

Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés (2022). The Ainu language through time. Handbook of the Ainu language (HJLL 12), ch. 5. De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin & Boston.

prior-analysis general text held locally OCR handbook-epub: 4 leaves, 4 with a printed page

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Grouped by topic. The stance is this source's; the other sources that assert, propose, doubt or reject the same claim are listed after it.

Morphophonology of the Affiliative Suffix and Echo/Copy Vowels 1

1. In Pre-Proto-Ainu, the affiliative marker had the phonological shape CVCVx, where x represents an undetermined consonant.
   前祖アイヌ語において、所属形接辞は CVCVx（x は未定の子音）という音韻形態を有していた。
   asserts

Assimilation and Cluster Simplification: Coda /r/, Nasals, and Clusters 1

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, the flap /r/ before a consonant also debuccalized to /h/ via an intermediate stage of total assimilation ([-r-C-] > [-C-C-] > [-hC-]).
   樺太アイヌ語において、子音に先行する弾き音/r/も中間段階の完全同化（[-r-C-] > [-C-C-] > [-hC-]）を経て声門音化を起こし/h/となった。
   asserts

The Consonant Inventory and Its Phonetic Realization 2

1. The consonant inventory of Saru Ainu consists of /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /y/, /w/, /h/, /ɾ/, and phonetic glottal stop [ʔ].
   沙流アイヌ語の子音目録は /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /y/, /w/, /h/, /ɾ/ および音声的な声門閉鎖音 [ʔ] からなる。
   reports
2. In the Bihoro dialect idiolect of Ginosuke Kikuchi, the voiced retroflex plosive [ɖ] was attested.
   美幌方言の菊池銀之助の話者個人語において、有声そり舌破裂音[ɖ]が聞かれた。
   reports

Denominal and Deverbal Verb Derivation 6

1. The verbal derivational suffix -an 'become NOUN' grammaticalized from the singular existential verb an 'to be'.
   「名詞になる」という意味の動詞派生接尾辞 -an は、単数存在動詞 an「いる・ある」から文法化した。
   asserts
2. The verbal derivational suffix -sak ~ -nak, forming verbs of absence, grammaticalized from the verb sak 'to lack'.
   欠如動詞を派生する接尾辞 -sak ~ -nak は、動詞 sak「欠く」から文法化した。
   asserts
3. The verbal derivational suffix -as, forming non-agentive verbs, grammaticalized from the verb as 'to stand'.
   非動作主動詞を派生する接尾辞 -as は、動詞 as「立つ」から文法化した。
   asserts
4. The verbal derivational suffix -kor, forming possessive verbs, grammaticalized from the verb kor 'to have'.
   所有動詞を派生する接尾辞 -kor は、動詞 kor「持つ」から文法化した。
   asserts
5. The verbal derivational suffix -kar, forming action verbs, grammaticalized from the verb kar 'to make'.
   動作動詞を派生する接尾辞 -kar は、動詞 kar「作る」から文法化した。
   asserts
6. The verbal derivational suffix -ne, forming dynamic verbs, grammaticalized from the copula ne 'to be'.
   動的動詞を派生する接尾辞 -ne は、コピュラ ne「〜である」から文法化した。
   asserts

The Laryngeals: Glottal Stop, /h/, and the Final-h Question 2

1. In Bihoro, initial syllables that had high pitch accent in Proto-Hokkaido Ainu developed a prothetic /h-/, while those with low pitch did not.
   美幌方言では、祖北海道アイヌ語で高ピッチアクセントを持っていた語頭音節に前置的/h-/が発生したが、低ピッチ音節には発生しなかった。
   reports
2. Early sources of Kuril Ainu attest both prothetic h- and the loss of original h-.
   千島アイヌ語の初期資料は前置的h-の存在と本来のh-の消失の双方を証拠づけている。
   asserts

Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways 4

1. The Pan-Ainu singular verb a and plural verb rok 'to sit down' grammaticalized into durative or perfective markers.
   汎アイヌ語の動詞 a（単数）および rok（複数）「座る」は、継続または完了の標識へと文法化した。
   asserts
2. The verb ani 'to hold' grammaticalized into the instrumental marker 'with; by'.
   動詞 ani「持つ」は具格標識「〜で、〜によって」へと文法化した。
   asserts
3. The noun kusu 'reason' grammaticalized into the causal conjunction 'because; due to'.
   名詞 kusu「理由」は「〜だから、〜のために」を意味する接続詞へと文法化した。
   asserts
4. The copula ne grammaticalized from the anaphoric pronoun ne.
   コピュラ ne は前方照応代名詞 ne から文法化した。
   asserts

Japanese Loanwords and Their Phonological Adaptation 1

1. Loanwords from Tōhoku Japanese into Saru Ainu preserve prenasalized voiced consonants as nasal-stop clusters.
   東北日本語から沙流アイヌ語への借用語は、前鼻音化有声音を鼻音と破裂音の連続として保持している。
   asserts

The Latin Phonemic Transcription 1

1. In the phonological description of Sakhalin Ainu, the grapheme h represents the phoneme /x/, which surfaces phonetically as [x], [ɕ], or [f] depending on the preceding vowel.
   樺太アイヌ語の音韻記述において、文字 h は音素 /x/ を表し、先行母音に応じて音声的には [x]、[ɕ]、[f] などとして現れる。
   asserts

Numeral Classifiers, Ordinals, and Quantifier Syntax 3

1. In Pre-Proto-Ainu, numeral classifiers, if they existed, were a productive and distinct feature of the language.
   前祖アイヌ語において、助数詞（存在したとすれば）は生産的で明確な言語特徴であった。
   asserts
2. Ainu numerals may occur with two suffixes: -p ~ -pe for things (from pe 'thing') and -n ~ -iw for human beings (from aynu 'human being').
   アイヌ語の数詞は、事物を表す接尾辞 -p ~ -pe（pe「もの」に由来）および人間を表す接尾辞 -n ~ -iw（aynu「人間」に由来）の2つの接尾辞を伴って現れ得る。
   asserts
3. Ainu possesses two word-classifiers used with numbers: to for counting days and suy for counting times.
   アイヌ語には数詞とともに用いられる2つの語助数詞、すなわち日数を数える to と回数を数える suy がある。
   asserts

The Pitch-Accent Placement Rule and the Accented/Accentless Dialect Split 3

1. Hokkaido Ainu lost vowel length, and pitch accent became phonemic, as in minimal pairs like nína 'collect firewood' versus niná 'crush'.
   北海道アイヌ語は母音長を失い、nína「薪を拾う」対 niná「すり潰す」のような最小対においてピッチアクセントが音素化した。
   asserts
2. In Common Ainu, the original trochaic foot was most likely replaced by the iambic foot that dominates in historical lects.
   共通アイヌ語において、元々の強弱（トロカイオス）音脚は、歴史諸方言で支配的な弱強（ジャンボス）音脚に置換された可能性が高い。
   proposes
3. Long vowels in Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu regularly correspond to high pitch in Hokkaido Ainu.
   樺太アイヌ語および千島アイヌ語の長母音は、北海道アイヌ語の高ピッチに規則的に対応する。
   reports

Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes 5

1. In Nairo Sakhalin Ainu, initial t- reflects Proto-Ainu *l and *ʈ, whereas r- reflects *ɾ.
   樺太アイヌ語内路方言において、語頭の t- は祖アイヌ語の *l および *ʈ を反映し、r- は *ɾ を反映する。
   asserts
2. Proto-Ainu is reconstructed as having diversified into all documented lects over a time depth of approximately one thousand years.
   祖アイヌ語は、記録されたすべての諸変種へと歴史的におよそ1000年の時間深度をかけて分化した母言語である。
   asserts
3. The modern word for 'fish' (Saru cep, Horobetsu ciʔep, Raiciska ceh) reconstructs to Pre-Proto-Ainu *ti=(ʔ)e pe, literally 'the thing eaten (by everyone)'.
   「魚」を表す現代語形（沙流 cep、幌別 ciʔep、来知志 ceh）は、文字通りには「（皆によって）食べられるもの」を意味する前祖アイヌ語 *ti=(ʔ)e pe に再構される。
   asserts
4. In Common Ainu, the hypothetical lateral *l merged with the flap *ɾ.
   共通アイヌ語において、仮定された側音 *l は弾き音 *ɾ と合流した。
   asserts
5. In Common Ainu, the palatalized consonant series collapsed, with *sʸ and *s merging after *i.
   共通アイヌ語において口蓋化子音系列は崩壊し、*i の後で *sʸ と *s が合流した。
   asserts

Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison 2

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, /h/ regularly changes to /s/ following /i/.
   樺太アイヌ語において、/h/は/i/の直後で規則的に/s/へと変化する。
   asserts
2. In Sakhalin Ainu, Proto-Ainu final consonants */p/, */t/, and */k/ underwent debuccalization, moving their place of articulation to the glottis.
   樺太アイヌ語において、祖アイヌ語の末子音*/p/、*/t/、*/k/は調音点が声門へと移動する声門音化（口腔音消失）を起こした。
   asserts

The Vowel Inventory and Vowel Realization 4

1. Ainu has a five-vowel system consisting of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/.
   アイヌ語は /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ の5母音体系をもつ。
   asserts asserts: bugaeva2012, itabashi2001, kirikae1997, nakagawa2024, ono2022, sato2008, shibatani1990 8 statements
2. Sakhalin Ainu exhibits allophonic vowel length [a: e: i: o: u:] on stressed syllables.
   樺太アイヌ語では強勢音節において異音的な母音の長短[a: e: i: o: u:]が現れる。
   asserts
3. In Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu, noun and verb bases distinguish short and long vowels, with long vowels appearing only in open syllables.
   樺太アイヌ語および千島アイヌ語において、名詞語幹および動詞語幹は短母音と長母音を区別し、長母音は開音節にのみ現れる。
   asserts
4. In Sakhalin Ainu, vowel length is phonetic rather than phonemic, occurring in open stem syllables while vowels outside the stem are always short.
   樺太アイヌ語における母音長は音素的ではなく音声的なものであり、開音節の語幹に生じ、語幹外の母音は常に短い。
   asserts

Statements extracted from this source

Each statement is what the source commits to at one place, in normalised wording, with its type, stance and scope; the page number comes from the page footer of the OCR dump. Status tells how far a statement has been checked.

Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes 5

1. In Common Ainu, the palatalized consonant series collapsed, with *sʸ and *s merging after *i.
   共通アイヌ語において口蓋化子音系列は崩壊し、*i の後で *sʸ と *s が合流した。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu *sʸ*s
2. In Common Ainu, the hypothetical lateral *l merged with the flap *ɾ.
   共通アイヌ語において、仮定された側音 *l は弾き音 *ɾ と合流した。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu *l*ɾ
3. In Nairo Sakhalin Ainu, initial t- reflects Proto-Ainu *l and *ʈ, whereas r- reflects *ɾ.
   樺太アイヌ語内路方言において、語頭の t- は祖アイヌ語の *l および *ʈ を反映し、r- は *ɾ を反映する。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin t-r-*l*ʈ*ɾ
4. The modern word for 'fish' (Saru cep, Horobetsu ciʔep, Raiciska ceh) reconstructs to Pre-Proto-Ainu *ti=(ʔ)e pe, literally 'the thing eaten (by everyone)'.
   「魚」を表す現代語形（沙流 cep、幌別 ciʔep、来知志 ceh）は、文字通りには「（皆によって）食べられるもの」を意味する前祖アイヌ語 *ti=(ʔ)e pe に再構される。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts anchored · anchor 100% ainu *ti=(ʔ)e pe*/ti-ʔe-p/*/ciʔep/cepciʔepceh
5. Proto-Ainu is reconstructed as having diversified into all documented lects over a time depth of approximately one thousand years.
   祖アイヌ語は、記録されたすべての諸変種へと歴史的におよそ1000年の時間深度をかけて分化した母言語である。
   p. 5.1 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu

The Pitch-Accent Placement Rule and the Accented/Accentless Dialect Split 3

1. In Common Ainu, the original trochaic foot was most likely replaced by the iambic foot that dominates in historical lects.
   共通アイヌ語において、元々の強弱（トロカイオス）音脚は、歴史諸方言で支配的な弱強（ジャンボス）音脚に置換された可能性が高い。
   p. 5.4 diachrony proposes checked · anchor 100% ainu
2. Long vowels in Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu regularly correspond to high pitch in Hokkaido Ainu.
   樺太アイヌ語および千島アイヌ語の長母音は、北海道アイヌ語の高ピッチに規則的に対応する。
   p. 5.2 variation reports checked · anchor 100% sakhalinkurilhokkaido
3. Hokkaido Ainu lost vowel length, and pitch accent became phonemic, as in minimal pairs like nína 'collect firewood' versus niná 'crush'.
   北海道アイヌ語は母音長を失い、nína「薪を拾う」対 niná「すり潰す」のような最小対においてピッチアクセントが音素化した。
   p. 5.2 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% hokkaido nínaniná

Morphophonology of the Affiliative Suffix and Echo/Copy Vowels 1

1. In Pre-Proto-Ainu, the affiliative marker had the phonological shape CVCVx, where x represents an undetermined consonant.
   前祖アイヌ語において、所属形接辞は CVCVx（x は未定の子音）という音韻形態を有していた。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -CVCVx

Numeral Classifiers, Ordinals, and Quantifier Syntax 3

1. In Pre-Proto-Ainu, numeral classifiers, if they existed, were a productive and distinct feature of the language.
   前祖アイヌ語において、助数詞（存在したとすれば）は生産的で明確な言語特徴であった。
   p. 5.4 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu
2. Ainu numerals may occur with two suffixes: -p ~ -pe for things (from pe 'thing') and -n ~ -iw for human beings (from aynu 'human being').
   アイヌ語の数詞は、事物を表す接尾辞 -p ~ -pe（pe「もの」に由来）および人間を表す接尾辞 -n ~ -iw（aynu「人間」に由来）の2つの接尾辞を伴って現れ得る。
   p. 5.3 form-function asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -p-pe-n-iw
3. Ainu possesses two word-classifiers used with numbers: to for counting days and suy for counting times.
   アイヌ語には数詞とともに用いられる2つの語助数詞、すなわち日数を数える to と回数を数える suy がある。
   p. 5.3 existence asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu tosuy

The Latin Phonemic Transcription 1

1. In Sakhalin Ainu phonological description, 〈h〉 represents the phoneme /x/, realized phonetically as [ax], [iɕ], [uf], and similar rhymes.
   樺太アイヌ語の記述において、〈h〉 は音素 /x/ を表し、音声的には [ax], [iɕ], [uf] などとして実現する。
   p. 5.4 form-function asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin h

The Vowel Inventory and Vowel Realization 4

1. All Ainu dialects without exception possess five vocalic phonemes: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/.
   例外なくすべてのアイヌ語方言は、/a/、/e/、/i/、/o/、/u/の5母音音素をもつ。
   p. 5.2 existence asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu /a//e//i//o//u/
2. Sakhalin Ainu exhibits allophonic vowel length [a: e: i: o: u:] on stressed syllables.
   樺太アイヌ語では強勢音節において異音的な母音の長短[a: e: i: o: u:]が現れる。
   p. 5.2 alternation asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin [a:][e:][i:][o:][u:]
3. In Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu, noun and verb bases distinguish short and long vowels, with long vowels appearing only in open syllables.
   樺太アイヌ語および千島アイヌ語において、名詞語幹および動詞語幹は短母音と長母音を区別し、長母音は開音節にのみ現れる。
   p. 5.2 distribution asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalinkuril aaaeeeiiiooo
4. In Sakhalin Ainu, vowel length is phonetic rather than phonemic, occurring in open stem syllables while vowels outside the stem are always short.
   樺太アイヌ語における母音長は音素的ではなく音声的なものであり、開音節の語幹に生じ、語幹外の母音は常に短い。
   p. 5.2 analysis asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin

The Consonant Inventory and Its Phonetic Realization 2

1. The consonant inventory of Saru Ainu consists of /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /y/, /w/, /h/, /ɾ/, and phonetic glottal stop [ʔ].
   沙流アイヌ語の子音目録は /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /y/, /w/, /h/, /ɾ/ および音声的な声門閉鎖音 [ʔ] からなる。
   p. 5.2 existence reports extracted · anchor 71% hokkaido/southwest/saru ptck[ʔ]mns
2. In the Bihoro dialect idiolect of Ginosuke Kikuchi, the voiced retroflex plosive [ɖ] was attested.
   美幌方言の菊池銀之助の話者個人語において、有声そり舌破裂音[ɖ]が聞かれた。
   p. 5.2 existence reports checked · anchor 100% hokkaido/northeast/kitami [ɖ]

The Laryngeals: Glottal Stop, /h/, and the Final-h Question 2

1. In Bihoro, initial syllables that had high pitch accent in Proto-Hokkaido Ainu developed a prothetic /h-/, while those with low pitch did not.
   美幌方言では、祖北海道アイヌ語で高ピッチアクセントを持っていた語頭音節に前置的/h-/が発生したが、低ピッチ音節には発生しなかった。
   p. 5.2 diachrony reports checked · anchor 100% hokkaido/northeast/kitami h-
2. Early sources of Kuril Ainu attest both prothetic h- and the loss of original h-.
   千島アイヌ語の初期資料は前置的h-の存在と本来のh-の消失の双方を証拠づけている。
   p. 5.2 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% kuril h-

Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison 2

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, Proto-Ainu final consonants */p/, */t/, and */k/ underwent debuccalization, moving their place of articulation to the glottis.
   樺太アイヌ語において、祖アイヌ語の末子音*/p/、*/t/、*/k/は調音点が声門へと移動する声門音化（口腔音消失）を起こした。
   p. 5.1 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin ptktekteh
2. In Sakhalin Ainu, /h/ regularly changes to /s/ following /i/.
   樺太アイヌ語において、/h/は/i/の直後で規則的に/s/へと変化する。
   p. 5.1 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin hssiksis

Assimilation and Cluster Simplification: Coda /r/, Nasals, and Clusters 1

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, the flap /r/ before a consonant also debuccalized to /h/ via an intermediate stage of total assimilation ([-r-C-] > [-C-C-] > [-hC-]).
   樺太アイヌ語において、子音に先行する弾き音/r/も中間段階の完全同化（[-r-C-] > [-C-C-] > [-hC-]）を経て声門音化を起こし/h/となった。
   p. 5.1 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% sakhalin rohtaotta

Japanese Loanwords and Their Phonological Adaptation 1

1. Loanwords from Northern (Tōhoku) Japanese into Saru Ainu preserve prenasalized consonants, as seen in cikenki 'matches' (from Standard Japanese tsukegi) and antuki 'sweet beans' (from Standard Japanese azuki).
   東北日本語方言から沙流アイヌ語への借用語には、共通語のtsukegiに対するcikenki「マッチ」や、azukiに対するantuki「小豆」のように前鼻音化子音が保持されている。
   p. 5.1 diachrony asserts anchored · anchor 100% hokkaido/southwest/saru cikenkiantuki

Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways 4

1. The Pan-Ainu singular verb a and plural verb rok 'to sit down' grammaticalized into durative or perfective markers.
   汎アイヌ語の動詞 a（単数）および rok（複数）「座る」は、継続または完了の標識へと文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu arok
2. The verb ani 'to hold' grammaticalized into the instrumental marker 'with; by'.
   動詞 ani「持つ」は具格標識「〜で、〜によって」へと文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu ani
3. The noun kusu 'reason' grammaticalized into the causal conjunction 'because; due to'.
   名詞 kusu「理由」は「〜だから、〜のために」を意味する接続詞へと文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu kusu
4. The copula ne grammaticalized from the anaphoric pronoun ne.
   コピュラ ne は前方照応代名詞 ne から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu ne

Denominal and Deverbal Verb Derivation 6

1. The verbal derivational suffix -an 'become NOUN' grammaticalized from the singular existential verb an 'to be'.
   「名詞になる」という意味の動詞派生接尾辞 -an は、単数存在動詞 an「いる・ある」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -anan
2. The verbal derivational suffix -as, forming non-agentive verbs, grammaticalized from the verb as 'to stand'.
   非動作主動詞を派生する接尾辞 -as は、動詞 as「立つ」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -asas
3. The verbal derivational suffix -kar, forming action verbs, grammaticalized from the verb kar 'to make'.
   動作動詞を派生する接尾辞 -kar は、動詞 kar「作る」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -karkar
4. The verbal derivational suffix -kor, forming possessive verbs, grammaticalized from the verb kor 'to have'.
   所有動詞を派生する接尾辞 -kor は、動詞 kor「持つ」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -korkor
5. The verbal derivational suffix -ne, forming dynamic verbs, grammaticalized from the copula ne 'to be'.
   動的動詞を派生する接尾辞 -ne は、コピュラ ne「〜である」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -nene
6. The verbal derivational suffix -sak ~ -nak, forming verbs of absence, grammaticalized from the verb sak 'to lack'.
   欠如動詞を派生する接尾辞 -sak ~ -nak は、動詞 sak「欠く」から文法化した。
   p. 5.3 diachrony asserts checked · anchor 100% ainu -sak-naksak

Chapters citing this source

Examples cited from this source

Sentences of the first edition citing this source

1. adopts the same position and explicitly sets aside all prior affiliation proposals to concentrate on what can be recovered by internal analysis alone. §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
2. For a language with no established relatives, three analytical tools are available, in decreasing order of probatory force : (i) internal reconstruction — working backwards from dialectal and morphophonological alternations to recover earlier forms — which calls "by far the most powerful" for Ainu; (ii) contact-induced change analysis, chiefly Ainu interactions with Japanese and, on Sakhalin, with Nivkh; and (iii) typological reasoning, to be "used with utmost caution" since structural parallels between languages provide heuristics for the reconstruction scenarios but carry no genealogical weight. §1; §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
3. Without a comparative method drawing on related sister languages, reconstruction "with wild speculation excluded" takes Ainu back roughly 1,000 years . §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
4. The Pre-Proto-Ainu and Proto-Ainu stages reconstructed by and revised by rest entirely on internal reconstruction, without an external comparative check. no page The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
5. explicitly sets aside all such proposals — "ignoring all previous attempts at seeking relatives" — to work on internal reconstruction alone. §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
6. All three published reviewers of independently concluded that this background assumption vitiates the consonant reconstruction: Sidwell (1996), Abondolo (1997), and Witczak (1999), as summarised by . §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
7. 's revised reconstruction abandons the Austroasiatic template and proposes a leaner inventory that better matches the Ainu phonological profile (see ) ‹speculative›. no page The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
8. Later loans, such as Saru cikenki (Standard Japanese つけぎ tsukegi 'matches') and antuki (Standard Japanese 小豆 azuki, with prenasalization from the Tōhoku substratum), document the continuing contact through the medieval period . §1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
9. As Alonso notes, "when it comes to functional words and TAM formatives, the etymology is still transparent" ; it is in the basic vocabulary where external comparison would be decisive — and where it has consistently failed to produce the requisite correspondence sets. §3.1 The Genetic Position of Ainu: Isolate Status and Macro-Comparison Controversies
10. The Handbook of the Ainu language , which she edited, assembles specialist treatments of every major domain: phonology , verbal valency , dialectology , oral literature , historical and comparative linguistics , and the revitalization movement . no page The History of Ainu Language Description and Previous Research
11. The Handbook chapter by critically reviewed earlier Proto-Ainu reconstruction proposals, including those of , and advanced a revised segmental and suprasegmental inventory. no page The History of Ainu Language Description and Previous Research
12. Three instruments remain available : internal reconstruction, which Alonso de la Fuente calls "by far the most powerful" tool; contact-induced-change analysis, chiefly against Japanese and, on Sakhalin, against Nivkh; and typological reasoning, which carries no independent probatory weight and must be handled with caution. §1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
13. The reconstruction surveyed here is accordingly shallow in time depth: internal evidence licenses proposals reaching roughly a thousand years into the past, and the one firm external anchor is the thirteenth-century Great Migration that separated the Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril varieties . §1, §4 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
14. Deeper pre-history — the Pre-Proto-Ainu stage — is reachable only "ad nauseam by internal reconstruction" and cannot be independently validated . §4 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
15. The two primary sources for this chapter are — the monograph-length reconstruction of Proto-Ainu, abbreviated RPA — and the critical revision by (abbreviated "New"). no page Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
16. Alonso de la Fuente distinguishes three stages , drawing an analogy with the Slavic case (Pre-PA ≈ PIE, PA ≈ Proto-Slavic, Common Ainu ≈ Common Slavic), while noting that only Common Ainu and later can claim anything resembling a running comparative method: §4, Tables 18–19 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
17. Alonso rejects the seventeen-vowel system on phonetic and historical grounds: the proposed extra vowel qualities leave no trace in the oldest Nara-period loanword layer, and the distributional alternations attributed to them are reassignable to the five basic vowels without residue ‹contested›. §2.1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
18. Alonso calls this "a triumph of internal reconstruction" . §2.1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
19. The reconstructed PA vowel system is the same five-quality inventory that all modern lects share ‹consensus›. §2.1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
20. Vovin proposed the following PA inventory (RPA; reproduced in ): Table 3 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
21. Dixon (1883) ⟨jabush⟩ for capus 'lip' — which suggest that the stops were phonetically intermediate between voiced and voiceless at an earlier period (via ). §2.2 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
22. Contemporary reviews of RPA raised two structural objections: the absence of *w, a phoneme present in every attested Ainu lect (Sidwell 1996, via Alonso 2022 §2.2.3); and the background assumption of an Austroasiatic affiliation that distorted the consonant correspondences (Sidwell 1996, Abondolo 1997, Witczak 1999; all via ). §1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
23. Alonso de la Fuente's revision addresses eleven correspondence classes . §2.2, Table 5 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
24. Vovin's word-initial *d- is reinterpreted as a lateral *l- . §2.2.1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
25. Early Ainu-to-Ghilyak loans showing Proto-Ghilyak *l- corresponding to RPA *d- provide an independent, contact-based check (RPA 160, via ; for the Nivkh contact background, see ). §2.2.1 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
26. Vovin's cluster notation *tr- is reanalysed as a single retroflex stop *ʈ- (or retroflex flap ~*ʈɽ) . §2.2.2 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
27. Decisive phonetic attestation comes from the Bihoro-dialect idiolect of Ginosuke Kikuchi, where the voiced retroflex [ɖ] was still audible when Hattori's team collected data (Hattori 1964: 34, cited via ). §2.2.2 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
28. Cognate sets include PA *ʈam.u 'soul', *ʈek.e 'drumstick', *ʈus 'skin' . Table 6 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
29. Rather than adjudicating between the two economical analyses, Alonso presents them side by side ‹contested›: §2.2.3, Table 7 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
30. Following Shiraishi (1999, via Alonso 2022 §2.2.4), Alonso argues they are in complementary distribution: the glottal stop has no lexical function, plays no role in morphonology, and is epenthetic in modern Hokkaido Ainu . §2.2.4 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
31. Alonso rejects this: prothetic h- in Bihoro is an independent innovation triggered by initial-syllable stress (the typologically common #V → hV tendency, citing Blevins 2008 via Alonso 2022 §2.2.5), and it functions to disambiguate homophones (Bihoro ham 'claw' vs am 'nail', Alonso 2022 Table 8) . §2.2.5 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
32. Alonso proposes a full Pre-PA palatalized consonant set — *pʸ *tʸ *kʸ *hʸ *sʸ (and possibly *mʸ *nʸ) — which collapsed into modern /c/ etc., analogously to the Latin palatal series in Spanish . §2.2.6, Tables 10–11 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
33. Alonso reconstructs *pʸaɾ as a fifth account, attributing the southwest/northeast split to the collapse of the palatalized labial . §2.2.6 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
34. The two revised PA consonant inventories proposed by Alonso de la Fuente are (Table 14; ): Table 14 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
35. The cognate sets below illustrate the principal PA reconstructions against the lect sample (Alonso 2022, Tables 1–6, 14, 18; via ). no page Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
36. The internal reconstruction of cep 'fish' is Alonso de la Fuente's illustration of what internal reconstruction can recover for an isolate : Table 18 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
37. siisam ; . §2.3 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
38. Alonso de la Fuente's chapter is internally inconsistent on this point: §2.3 sides with Satō's pitch-first view (c), while §2.4 endorses Hattori's length-first view (a), and the chapter identifies Vovin's mora-counting assumption in RPA as "the source of all problems" . §2.3, §2.4 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
39. Satō (2015/2016) and Shiraishi (2017) — both via — propose that PA/Common Ainu was trochaic and that accent spread rightward to produce the historical iambic pattern visible in most Hokkaido dialects. §2.3 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
40. The comparison with PIE/Slavic stages, while structurally illuminating, cannot import the evidential standards that the comparative method sustains in well-attested families — a limitation intrinsic to isolate reconstruction ; . §1, §4 Proto-Ainu Reconstruction: Segments and Accent Classes
41. The analysis that makes this transparent is Janhunen's (2020, via ) account of the affiliative -VhV. §2.1 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
42. A separate h-related phenomenon in Hokkaido — the prothetic h- of the Bihoro dialect (haspa 'deaf' : aspa; ham 'nail' : am) — has been analysed as an independent Bihoro innovation driven by disambiguation of initial-stressed forms, not as an archaism or an echo of any coda laryngeal . §2.2.5 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
43. In Sakhalin Ainu a systematic coda-weakening rule applies: stop and fricative codas debuccalize to h (p, t, k → h), nasal m merges with n, and coda r is followed by a vowel that opens the syllable ; . §1 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
44. The ‹SA›RA surface form mah would predict an affiliative *mah-ihi, but the attested form is mac-ihi, with an affricate c absent from the citation form of both dialects ; . §1 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
45. Alonso de la Fuente transcribes it as a velar fricative /x/, reflecting its realization as [ax], [iɕ], [uf] conditioned by the preceding vowel. §1 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
46. Sakhalin Ainu carries phonemic vowel length in open stem syllables (a aa e ee i ii o oo u uu); Hokkaido Ainu has a pitch accent and no contrastive length ; . §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
47. Hattori (1967, via ; ) first stated the systematic correspondence: a ‹SA› long vowel in an open stem syllable aligns with a HA high-pitch syllable in the same position. §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
48. A closed-syllable constraint qualifies the generalization: where the stem syllable carries a coda consonant (retained in HA, debuccalized to h in ‹SA›), the ‹SA› vowel is short while HA retains the high pitch on that syllable . §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
49. Three positions are current in the literature, surveyed comprehensively in and addressed in detail in : §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
50. (a) Length-first (Hattori 1967; De Boer 2010, both via ): Proto-Ainu had contrastive vowel length and no pitch accent; Hokkaido acquired its pitch system through prolonged contact with Japanese, while Sakhalin preserved the older length contrast. §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
51. (b) Both length and pitch (Vovin 1993, via ; ): Proto-Ainu carried both phonemic length and pitch simultaneously; the Sakhalin branch lost pitch under Amur–Sakhalin contact pressure, retaining length; Hokkaido retained pitch and neutralised length. §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
52. (c) Pitch-first (Satō 2015–2016, via ): Proto-Ainu had pitch accent only; ‹SA› length is a phonetically conditioned phenomenon restricted to open syllables and represents a Sakhalin-internal development — possibly compensatory lengthening following coda weakening — rather than an inherited contrast. §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
53. Alonso de la Fuente's own treatment is internally divided: §2.3 endorses view (c) as "most economical", while §2.4 states that "Hattori was right when he suggested Proto-Ainu had only vowel length, and no pitch accent; pitch accent may be the result of language contact after Japanese influence" — a restatement of view (a) ‹contested›. §2.3, §2.4 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
54. A trochaic-to-iambic shift hypothesis (Satō 2015–2016; Shiraishi 2017, both via ) adds a further layer: if Proto-Ainu or Common Ainu was trochaic and the pitch accent spread rightward, the resulting iambic system would leave certain archaisms — ‹SA› §2.3 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
55. The resulting system — a single coda h for historically distinct p, t, k — would be irrecoverable from ‹SA› alone; the Hokkaido cognates and the ‹SA› affiliative together supply the two independent verification routes that Alonso de la Fuente calls an illustration of internal reconstruction for an isolate. §1 The Final-h Problem and Its Sakhalin Vowel-Length Reflex
56. Three tools remain for recovering Ainu prehistory: internal reconstruction, which exploits alternations, paradigm irregularities, and dialect differences within Ainu itself; contact-induced-change analysis, drawing on the documented Japanese, Nivkh, and Tungusic contact layers; and typological inference, useful as a heuristic but carrying no independent probatory value . §1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
57. The time depth it can reach is shallow — roughly 1,000 years — bounded by the 13th-century Great Migration that separated Common Ainu into its Hokkaido and Sakhalin branches . §1, §4 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
58. As Alonso observes, "when it comes to functional words and TAM formatives, the etymology is still transparent" . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
59. Vovin (1993, via ) attributed the distributional complexity to a 17-vowel PA system: the suffix vowel was selected through vowel harmony with the final vowel of the base. §2.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
60. The machinery was extensive — twelve short and six long vowels — but all three major reviewers of the 1993 monograph found it unmotivated by the available evidence (Sidwell 1996; Abondolo 1997; Witczak 1999, all via ). §1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
61. Janhunen (2020, via ) offers a more economical account via internal reconstruction. §2.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
62. Alonso calls this "a triumph of internal reconstruction" and adopts it as the preferred account, concluding that the PA vowel system contained only the modern five vowels . §2.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
63. The grammaticalization path in each case runs: sensory noun → possessed formal noun → clause-final evidential marker ; ; . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
64. The copula that closes the evidential predication also has a grammaticalization history: Alonso identifies it as an anaphoric pronoun that developed a copular function . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
65. Alonso documents six such suffixes with unambiguous lexical sources (Alonso 2022 §3.1, Table 16; drawing on Dettmer 1989): no page Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
66. The morpheme database (mdb.aynu.org) corroborates the overlap: honkor = hon 'stomach' + kor 'have' (conf. 0.85), and the compound verb kor an (progressive) shows the same root in its free form . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
67. Related pathways in the functional vocabulary follow the same template: > instrumental/comitative particle 'with, by'; > causal conjunction 'because'; hon + tom 'belly + middle' > locative 'in the middle of' . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
68. The existential verb derives from a posture verb meaning 'sit down (SG)'; the suppletive plural corroborates the source, since the SG/PL suppletion retains the posture semantics . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
69. Its lexical source is the free noun , which shifted from independent nominal to clause-final derivational suffix by the same pathway as the evidential formal nouns above . §3.2 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
70. The three-way comparison — Saru cep, Horobetsu ciʔep, SA ceh — is Alonso's flagship illustration of the CA→dialect split . §4, Table 18 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
71. Their diachronic origin Alonso assigns to the grammaticalization of locative/relational nouns into verb prefixes, a widespread pathway typologically ; . §3.1 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
72. Reconstruction of a relative chronology for these layers — which function is oldest, and when the bound use separated from the free — remains out of reach given the approximately 1,000-year horizon of reliable internal reconstruction and the absence of any direct chronological evidence internal to Hokkaido Ainu . §1, §4 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
73. The proposed class markers include: *k (body/round: tek 'hand', sik 'eye', nok 'egg'); *t (long/rolling: pet 'river', not 'chin', at 'cord'); *m (long/small: kem 'needle', yam 'chestnut'); and *r (elongated: ker 'footwear', sir 'rock') . §3.2, Table 17–18 Internal Reconstruction and Grammaticalization Pathways
74. adds a reconstruction perspective: the split reflects a palatalized series in Proto-Ainu, with *pʸaɾ as the reconstructed form and *pʸ > ca- in one regional stream, *p > pa- in another. §2.2.6 Hokkaido Dialect Classification and Dialectometry
75. §2.2.6 reconstructs PA *pʸaɾ for 'mouth', treating the p/c split as a relic of a Proto-Ainu palatalized consonant series in which *pʸ shifted toward c in the northeast; this reconstruction is typologically motivated rather than philologically forced ‹speculative›. no page Hokkaido Dialect Microvariation: Phonology and Morphosyntax
76. The independent prothetic h that Bihoro developed on certain vowel-initial forms (Bihoro haspa 'deaf', ham 'nail' vs general aspa, am) is a separate localized innovation analysed by §2.2.5 as a prothetic strategy to disambiguate homophones — distinct from the original h elided in the surrounding eastern dialects. no page Hokkaido Dialect Microvariation: Phonology and Morphosyntax
77. The Sakhalin branch diverged from Common Ainu approximately 800 years ago; the Kuril varieties diverged later and cluster more closely with northeast Hokkaido in the lexicostatistic data ; . §4 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
78. Hattori (1967) first established the correspondence: a Sakhalin long vowel corresponds to a Hokkaido high pitch, and a Sakhalin short vowel in a closed-syllable stem likewise corresponds to Hokkaido high pitch in the same environments ; . §2.3 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
79. Alonso de la Fuente endorses view (c) in the body of his chapter but (a) in the conclusion, leaving the question unresolved ‹contested›. §2.3–2.4 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
80. Where Hokkaido has a word-final or syllable-final p, t, or k, the core Sakhalin varieties produce h; final m becomes n; and final r receives a following vowel, keeping the syllable open ; . §1 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
81. Alonso de la Fuente uses this set of alternations as his illustration of what internal reconstruction can accomplish for a language isolate without recourse to the comparative method . §1 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
82. The corresponding Sakhalin Raiciska form ceh is the regular debuccalization reflex . Table 18 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
83. The phonological status of SA coda h itself is disputed: Alonso de la Fuente treats it as a velar fricative /x/ (with realisations [ax], [iɕ], [uf]), while Tangiku and community members analyse it as a laryngeal breath h ; ‹contested›. §1 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
84. The underlying consonant is thus directly recoverable from morphological alternation even where phonology has eliminated it from the independent form ; . §1 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
85. The affiliative insert is transparently the suffix -hi 'thing, trace' attached to the base: san+hi = sanihi, makan+hi = makanihi — a pathway corroborated in community analysis (nukopoli, aynu-corpora Discord 2024-12-16; ), and consistent with the general account of the affiliative's origin from the noun hi 'thing, trace' argued by Janhunen (2020) via . §2.1 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
86. Alonso de la Fuente interprets this as retention of a Proto-Ainu lateral *l that merged with r in most dialects but with t in Nairo — on this account Nairo preserves the most archaic reflex for the relevant set ‹contested›. §2.2.1–2.2.2 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
87. The Northern Kuril varieties are known only from questionnaire records compiled by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century travellers — abbreviated in Alonso de la Fuente's discussion as KD (Dybowski), KK (Krašeninnikov), KL (Klaproth), KT (Torii), and KV (Voznesenskij) . §2.2 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
88. Phonologically the Kuril varieties largely preserve the coda stops p/t/k that Sakhalin debuccalises, but they also show prothetic h- in some forms alongside loss of original h- in others — an independent innovation parallel to the prothetic h- found in the Bihoro dialect of Hokkaido . §2.2.5 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
89. The word for 'mouth' appears as car in Kuril records (aligning with northeastern HA and Sakhalin against the southwestern HA form par), an isogloss documented in place-name data by (via ) and diachronically accounted for as a palatalized-series relic *pʸaɾ by . §2.2.6 Sakhalin and Kuril Ainu: The External Comparison
90. Alonso de la Fuente, revising Vovin's Proto-Ainu reconstruction, argues that Ainu-into-Ghilyak loans preserve the proto-lateral PA *l- before its merger with *r in all Hokkaido reflexes: the Proto-Ghilyak reflex *l- corresponding to Vovin's PA *d- makes sense if Ainu lent these words to Ghilyak before the lateral–flap merger had run its course . §2.2.1 Northern Contact: Nivkh, Tungusic, and Manchu
91. The claim in one view of the prosodic debate that Hokkaido pitch accent arose through contact with Japanese concerns the HA end, not Sakhalin ‹contested›; that debate is reviewed there and in . §2.3–2.4 Northern Contact: Nivkh, Tungusic, and Manchu
92. ; ; . §1 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
93. Three analytic tools remain — internal reconstruction, contact-induced-change analysis, and typology — with the important qualification that typological reasoning carries no probatory weight for genetic questions and must be used "with utmost caution" . §1 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
94. The methodologically recoverable depth is also shallow: internal reconstruction reaches approximately 1,000 years without unsupported extrapolation, terminating at a Common Ainu stage no earlier than the thirteenth-century CE branching that separated the Sakhalin varieties from Hokkaido . §1, §4 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
95. Judgements follow Janhunen , Alonso de la Fuente , and the three published reviews of Vovin (1993): Sidwell (1996), Abondolo (1997), and Witczak (1999), all cited second-hand via Alonso . §1; §1 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
96. Lexical resemblances between any two languages occur by chance at a predictable rate; only systematic sound-to-sound correspondences across a significant portion of core vocabulary, independent of areal diffusion, constitutes evidence for common descent . §1 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
97. Compare , reconstructed as Pre-PA *ti=(ʔ)e pe 'the thing eaten by everyone' (< fourth-person prefix ci= + + nominalizer -p), whose internal structure remains transparent after a millennium of phonological change . §4, Table 18 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
98. Later loanwords from Japanese, received after the post-Nara sound changes, carry the expected modern phonological shapes: cikenki (Saru; < Standard Japanese 付け木 tsukegi 'matches'), antuki (Saru; < 小豆 azuki 'azuki bean', with prenasalization from Tōhoku Japanese) . §1 Macro-Comparison and Deep-Contact Controversies
99. A community proto-Ainu reconstruction for proposes an earlier cluster-initial form *tretar/*dretar on the basis of a Taraika Sakhalin reflex tetar (antitwilight, aynu-corpora Discord 2024-11-24, proposed; ), consistent with the comparative program of and ‹speculative›. no page Synopsis of Lexical-Semantic Fields