96. The Copula ne and Predicate-Nominal Clauses

Overview 1 claims ·8 sentences

How frequent is the copula ne in the corpus and what homophones does it conflate?

1. tapan is often used in place of the verb ne in verse and formal expressions.
   tapan は韻文など、改まった表現の場合に動詞 ne の代わりに使われることが多い。
   distribution ainu usually tapanne
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:401 asserts checked

Clause template 7 claims ·6 sentences· 1 examples

What is the word order and case marking of predicate-nominal clauses with the copula ne?

1. The copula ne cannot form a sentence on its own and requires a nominal complement.
   繋辞 ne は単独で文を形成することはできず、名詞補語を必要とする。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:77 asserts checked
   • refsing1986:273 asserts checked
2. The copular verb nee and its inflected form ku=nee are frequently omitted, in which case the sentence-final portion is spoken with a rising intonation.
   指定動詞 nee および ku=nee はよく省略され、省略された場合は文末部分を上がりイントネーションをつけて言う。
   distribution sakhalin generic neeku=nee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:8 asserts extracted
3. The copula nee can be omitted by pronouncing the preceding noun with a high pitch, resulting in a sentence ending in a noun.
   指定を表す動詞（指定詞）nee は、その前の名詞を高い音調で言うことによって省略でき、その場合は名詞で文が終わる。
   distribution sakhalin generic nee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:90 asserts checked
4. Sentences ending directly in a noun are basically avoided in Ainu, and expressing 'A = B' requires the copular verb ne after the noun.
   アイヌ語では名詞で終わる文は基本的に避けられ、A=Bの意味を表す際は名詞の後にコピュラ動詞neを置かなければならない。
   distribution ainu usually ne
   asserts nakagawa2022pos
   • nakagawa2022pos:14.2 asserts checked
5. The nominal complement of the copula ne may be a noun expression, a noun modified by an adnominalized clause, or a nominalized sentence.
   繋辞 ne の名詞補語は、名詞表現、連体修飾節によって修飾された名詞、あるいは名詞化された文のいずれかであり得る。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:273 asserts checked
6. The nominal complement of the copula may be accompanied by a restrictive postposition.
   繋辞の名詞補語は限定後置詞を伴うことができる。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:273 asserts checked
7. When the subject is second person, the copula ne appears even in a sentence containing hunna 'who', as in hunna e-ne? 'Who are you?'.
   二人称が主語の場合には、hunna「誰」を含む文であっても hunna e-ne?「お前は誰だ？」のように ne「〜である」が現れる。
   distribution ainu generic hunnanee-
   asserts sato2008
   • sato2008:140 asserts checked

Person marking and verbal status 20 claims ·16 sentences· 1 examples

What person-marking affixes does the copula ne take, and how do analysts categorize it?

1. The copular verb ne takes transitive subject (A-series) personal markers but never takes object (O-series) markers.
   コピュラ動詞 ne は他動詞主語（A系列）の人称標識を取るが、目的語（O系列）の標識を取ることはない。
   distribution ainu all ne
   asserts bugaeva2012, bugaeva2015, sato2023b, sato2025a
   • bugaeva2012:470–471 asserts checked
   • bugaeva2012:472–473 asserts checked
   • bugaeva2015:44 asserts checked
   • sato2023b asserts checked
   • sato2025a asserts checked
2. In the Shizunai dialect, the copula ne prefixes nominative pronominal affixes but does not combine with objective affixes.
   静内方言において、コピュラ ne は主格代名詞接辞を接頭するが、目的格接辞とは結合しない。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:143 asserts checked
   • refsing1986:144 asserts checked
   • refines(differs in dialect): The copular verb ne takes transitive subject (A-series) personal markers but never takes object (O-series) markers.— Shizunai-specific formulation framed in nominative/objective prefix terminology
3. The copula ne 'be, become' is regarded as a special kind of transitive verb because it takes A-series personal affixes but not O-series affixes.
   繋辞ne「〜である、〜になる」は、A系列の他動詞主語人称接辞をとる一方でO系列の接辞をとらないため、アイヌ語文法において特殊な他動詞とみなされる。
   analysis ainu all ne
   asserts bugaeva2021poss
   • bugaeva2021poss asserts checked
4. Incomplete intransitive verbs, such as ne ('to become'), follow exactly the same subjective conjugation pattern as transitive verbs.
   不完全自動詞（例えば「〜になる」を意味する動詞 ne）は、他動詞と全く同一の主格活用を行う。
   membership ainu all ne
   asserts kindaichi1936
   • kindaichi1936 asserts checked
5. When the third-person plural suffix -(a)hci attaches to the copula stem nee, the stem vowel shortens to ne=hci (*nee-hci becomes ne-hci).
   三人称複数接辞 -(a)hci が指定動詞 nee に付くと、*nee-hci は長母音を短縮して ne=hci となる。
   alternation sakhalin all ne=hcinee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:9 asserts checked
6. In Sakhalin Ainu, the second-person singular copular predicate 'you are...' is formed as 'e=nee.
   樺太アイヌ語において、2人称単数の名詞述語「おまえ～だ」は'e=neeとなる。
   form-function sakhalin generic 'e=nee'e=nee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:64 asserts checked
7. In Sakhalin Ainu, the second-person plural copular predicate 'you (pl.) are...' is formed as 'eci=nee.
   樺太アイヌ語において、2人称複数の名詞述語「おまえたち～だ」は'eci=neeとなる。
   form-function sakhalin generic 'eci=nee'eci=nee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:64 asserts checked
8. In Sakhalin Ainu, the third-person singular copular predicate 'he/she is...' is nee, without any person prefix.
   樺太アイヌ語において、3人称単数のコピュラ述語「彼～だ」は人称接辞のないneeである。
   form-function sakhalin generic nee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:66 asserts checked
9. In Sakhalin Ainu, the third-person plural copular predicate 'they are...' is formed as ne=hci.
   樺太アイヌ語において、3人称複数のコピュラ述語「彼ら～だ」はne=hciとなる。
   form-function sakhalin generic ne=hci=hci
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:66 asserts checked
10. The copula ne ('to be') is treated as a subclass of two-argument verbs, but unlike other two-argument verbs, it never takes object personal affixes.
    コピュラ ne は2項動詞の下位区分として扱われることがあるが、他の2項動詞と異なり目的格人称接辞をとることがない。
    distribution ainu generic ne
    asserts nakagawa2024
    • nakagawa2024:132 asserts checked
11. The copula ne cannot take any verbal prefixes or suffixes, but it may be followed by auxiliaries.
    繋辞 ne は動詞の接頭辞や接尾辞を一切取ることができないが、助動詞を後続させることはできる。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986:145 asserts checked
12. The copula ne cannot take any verbal prefixes or suffixes.
    コピュラ ne はいかなる動詞接頭辞や接尾辞も取ることができない。
    absence hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986:146 asserts checked
13. The copula ne may be followed by auxiliaries.
    コピュラ ne は助動詞を後続させることができる。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986:146 asserts checked
14. The copula ne can take a nominative pronominal affix.
    繋辞 ne は主格の代名詞接辞を取ることができる。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986:273 asserts checked
15. The copula 'ne' is a kind of verb, but because it conjugates differently from ordinary verbs and forms negative expressions differently, it is called a designator (or copula).
    ne「〜だ，である」も動詞の一種だが，通常の動詞とは活用の仕方が異なり，否定表現の作り方も違ったりするので「指定詞」（コピュラ）と呼ぶ。
    terminology ainu all ne
    asserts sato2008
    • sato2008:21 asserts checked
16. When the copula ne incorporates a noun (e.g., inne 'many (people)' < ir-ne), its morphological valency decreases to 1 and the resulting verb undergoes intransitive personal inflection.
    コピュラ動詞 ne が名詞を抱合した場合（例：inne「人数が多い」＜ ir-ne）、形態的結合価は1に減少し、生じた動詞は自動詞の人称変化を行う。
    form-function ainu generic neinneir-ne
    asserts sato2023b
    • sato2023b asserts checked
17. The copula verb ne can take a second-person independent pronoun as a complement without a corresponding second-person marker on the verb, though this pattern is rare.
    繋辞動詞neは動詞上の人称一致を伴わずに2人称の独立代名詞を補語として取ることが稀にある。
    existence ainu exists neeani
    asserts sato2025a
    • sato2025a asserts checked
18. The copula ne takes the same personal affixes as transitive verbs.
    繋辞 ne は他動詞と同じ人称接辞をとる。
    distribution ainu all ne
    asserts shibatani1990
    • shibatani1990 asserts checked
19. In the Ishikari dialect, oray occurs as a suppletive plural copula form selected by a plural subject.
    石狩方言において、oray は複数主語によって選択される補充的な複数繋辞形として現れる。
    other hokkaido/central/ishikari oray
    asserts shibatani1990
    • shibatani1990 asserts checked
20. The copula ne and its derived transitive verbs take transitive subject markers.
    係詞 ne およびそこから派生した他動詞は、他動詞主語標識をとる。
    distribution ainu all ne
    asserts shibatani1990
    • shibatani1990:26 asserts checked

Semantic readings 8 claims ·10 sentences· 2 examples

What semantic roles does the copula ne express, and which does it not express?

1. The copula ne expresses both 'be' and 'become'.
   コピュラ ne 自体が「〜である」と「〜になる」という二つの意味を表す。
   form-function ainu all ne
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:119 asserts checked
2. To express 'to be', the translative case particle ne can be combined with the existential verb an as ne an.
   「〜である」を表す場合、動詞 ne だけでも表せるが、転成格の ne と存在動詞 an を組み合わせて ne an とすることもある。
   form-function ainu exists ne annean
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:300 asserts checked
3. The copula ne expresses the equative and attributive meanings of the copula.
   コピュラ ne はコピュラの同一関係および属性叙述の意味を表す。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai generic ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:143 asserts checked
4. The copula ne does not cover existential or locative meanings of 'to be', which are instead expressed by the existential verb an (sg.) / oka (pl.).
   コピュラ ne は存在や所在の意味を担わず、この機能は存在動詞 an（単数）/ oka（複数）によって担われる。
   absence hokkaido/southwest/shizunai none neanoka
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:143 asserts checked
5. The copula ne expresses the equative and attributive meanings of 'to be', but does not express existential or locative meanings, which are expressed by an (singular) and oka (plural).
   繋辞 ne は「〜である」の同格的・属性的意味を表すが、存在や所在の意味は表さず、それらの機能は存在動詞 an（単数）/ oka（複数）が担う。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all neanoka
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:144 asserts checked
6. In expressions meaning 'What is X?' or 'Who is X?' such as taanpe hemanta an? and toan kur hunna an?, the verb an is used rather than the copula ne, and sentences like *taanpe hemanta ne? or *toan kur hunna ne? have not been attested.
   「これは何ですか？」や「彼は誰ですか？」に当たる表現（taanpe hemanta an?, toan kur hunna an? など）では指定詞 ne ではなく an が用いられ、*taanpe hemanta ne?, *toan kur hunna ne? のような例はこれまでのところ見つかっていない。
   absence ainu none anne
   asserts sato2008
   • sato2008:140 asserts extracted
7. The Ainu copula ne generally requires an equational relationship between its subject and complement (where the complement must properly predicate an inherent property of the subject), and unlike Japanese -da, 'eel sentences' (unagi-bun) are not permitted except in figurative expressions.
   アイヌ語のコピュラ ne「〜だ、〜である」は原則として主語と補語の間に等価的な関係を要求し、日本語の「〜だ」と異なり、比喩的表現を除いてはいわゆる「ウナギ文」は許されない。
   distribution ainu usually ne
   asserts sato2008
   • sato2008:140 asserts checked
8. The expressions ne hine an and ne wa an have no aspectual meaning.
   ne hine an および ne wa an という表現にはアスペクト的な意味はない。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/saruhokkaido/chitose generic ne hine anne wa an
   asserts yoshikawa2022
   • yoshikawa2022:19.3 asserts checked

The stative–inchoative duality 4 claims ·5 sentences· 1 examples

How does the copula ne encode both stative and inchoative readings without morphological change?

1. Ainu does not distinguish between 'being' and 'becoming', and the meaning of the copula ne can be static as well as dynamic.
   アイヌ語は「ある」ことと「なる」ことを区別せず、繋辞 ne の意味は静態的にも動態的にもなり得る。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:143 asserts checked
   • refsing1986:144 asserts checked
2. The morpheme ne is the copula, and its meaning 'become' reflects the dynamic rather than static function of the copula.
   形態素 ne は係辞（コピュラ）であり、その「〜になる」という意味は静態的機能に対して動態的機能を反映している。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:29 asserts checked
3. The morpheme ne is the copula, and its 'become' meaning reflects the dynamic, as opposed to the static, function of the copula.
   形態素 ne は繋辞であり、その「〜になる」という意味は静態的機能に対置される繋辞の動態的機能を反映している。
   form-function ainu all ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:29 asserts checked
4. The copula ne can have an inchoative reading meaning 'to become X'.
   繋辞 ne は「Xになる」を意味する起動相的な読みを持つことができる。
   form-function ainu ne
   asserts shibatani1990
   • shibatani1990 asserts checked

Attributive ne in noun-noun compounds 4 sentences· 2 examples

What function does ne serve when occurring between two nouns within a noun phrase?

The mutative ne 4 claims ·5 sentences· 1 examples

How does the copula ne grammaticalize into a mutative case postposition?

1. The translative case is expressed by ne, which is derived from the verb ne 'to become'.
   化成格は「に成る」という意味の動詞に由来する ne によって表される。
   form-function ne
   asserts kindaichi1936
   • kindaichi1936 asserts checked
2. The mutative case postposition ne denoting the result of a change represents a derived dynamic use of the copula ne.
   変化の結果を表す変合格後置詞 ne は、コピュラ ne の動態的な意味から派生した用法である。
   diachrony hokkaido/southwest/shizunai generic ne
   proposes refsing1986
   • refsing1986:143 proposes checked
3. The mutative case postposition ne denotes the result of a change as a derived dynamic use of the copula ne.
   変化格の後置詞 ne は、繋辞 ne の動態的用法の派生として変化の結果を表す。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai generic ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:144 asserts checked
4. ne is a case particle marking state or change ('as, into, at').
   ne は状態や変化を表す格助詞である（「〜で、〜に」）。
   form-function ainu all ne
   asserts sato2008
   • sato2008:36 asserts checked

Negation: X ka somo ne 1 claims ·8 sentences· 1 examples

What is the negation pattern for copular predicates in Hokkaido Ainu?

1. The negative form of the copular construction in Sakhalin Ainu is marked by ka hannehka (nee), in which nee is frequently omitted.
   樺太アイヌ語におけるコピュラ構文の否定形は ka hannehka (nee) で表され、nee は省略されることが多い。
   form-function sakhalin all ka hannehkanee
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:11 asserts checked
   • murasaki2025:15 asserts checked

The formal-noun evidential tail 3 claims ·6 sentences· 1 examples

How does the copula ne function in the formal-noun evidential construction?

1. The copula ne frequently combines with the nominalizer ruwe as ruwe ne to close sentences assertively or emphatically.
   コピュラ ne は名詞化辞 ruwe と結びつき、ruwe ne として文末を断定的に結ぶ。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai frequent neruweruwe ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:145 asserts checked
   • refsing1986:146 asserts checked
2. In short questions and answers where ruwe is omitted, enta an ya and esta an ne assume the functions of both the copula and the sentence-final form, acting as an interrogative copula and an assertive copula respectively.
   ruwe が省略された短い疑問文や返答において、enta an ya と esta an ne は繋辞と文末形式の双方の機能を兼ね備え、それぞれ一種の「疑問の繋辞」および「断定の繋辞」として機能する。
   analysis hokkaido/southwest/shizunai generic enta an yaesta an ne
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:237 asserts checked
3. In questions using the nominalizer ruwe, the copula ne appears before ruwe, as in tanpe hemanta ne ruwe an? 'What is this?'.
   名詞化辞 ruwe を用いた疑問文では、tanpe hemanta ne ruwe an? のように ne「〜である」が現れる。
   distribution ainu generic neruwean
   asserts sato2008
   • sato2008:140 asserts checked

Competing analyses of ne 2 claims ·16 sentences

What are the competing analyses of the grammatical category of the copula ne?

1. In content questions with the copula, ne is often replaced by the existential verb an, and in evidential content questions it is obligatorily replaced by an.
   コピュラを含む疑問詞疑問文では ne が存在動詞 an に置換されることが多く、証拠性節では義務的に an に置換される。
   alternation hokkaido/southwest generic nean
   asserts bugaeva2012
   • bugaeva2012:496–497 asserts checked
2. an originally is a verb meaning 'there is' (to exist), but when combined with the locative particle ta or tap (as ta-an or tap-an), it acquires the meaning 'is' and functions simply as a copula like the verb ne.
   an は本来「がある」を意味する動詞であるが、処格助詞 ta または tap と結合すると「である」の意味になり、動詞 ne と同様に単に copula として用いられる。
   form-function all antatapta-antap-anne
   asserts kindaichi1936
   • kindaichi1936 asserts checked