Skip to content
A Grammar of Hokkaido Ainu

Knowledge base · Part XVIII — Information Structure, Sentence-Final Particles, and Minor Classes

145. Gendered Speech and Pragmatic Registers

What sex-of-speaker and register differences exist in final particles, interjections, and politeness, and what documentation gaps remain?

終助詞、間投詞、丁寧さにおいて、話し手の性別やレジスターによる違いは何か、また記録の欠落はどこか？

Sex-of-speaker and register differences in final particles, interjections, and politeness, and the documentation gaps surrounding them.

candidate topic from the first edition topic:discourse/gendered-register-speech read this topic as text

17claims
52statements
16sources
5examples
6sections
51first-edition sentences

Local network

The chapter, its sections, the sources it cites, the chapters it cross-references, the forms it mentions most, and the claims grouped under it with the sources that assert, propose, doubt or reject each.

Related chapters

Forms mentioned

sakehe 5yukar 4onkami 3menoko yukar 2a= 2=an 2hinna 2raymik 2hioy'oy 2hinna hinna 2irankarapte 2atomte itak 2kamuy nomi 1menokoyukar 1tusu 1uwepeker 1atomte-itak 1hunna 1iyayiraykere 1na 1wa 1ne 1ya 1he 1ruwe 1hawe 1asinuma 1aoka(y) 1eani 1ecioka(y) 1caranke 1

Claims

A claim is one proposition; under it stand the statements of each source, with the stance that source takes. Claims are grouped by a model from the extracted statements and carry that status until reviewed.

Sections

·

Genre allocation and narrator sex 1 claims ·7 sentences

How is the sex of the narrator normatively tied to oral literary genres, and how consistently is this allocation documented?

  1. In Ainu oral literature, it is difficult to determine whether a line of dialogue was uttered by a male or female character based on wording alone.
    アイヌ語の口承文芸において、せりふの文言だけから話者が男性か女性かを判定することは困難である。
    absence ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024

The menoko yukar — women's heroic verse 9 sentences· 1 examples

In women's heroic verse, what thematic and structural features distinguish it from standard epic, particularly the protagonist's abilities and marriage outcome?

huci ape en=epunkine wa apunno
grandmother fire 1SG.O=protect.conj CONJ safely
‘Fire grandmother, protect me and [let me return] safely.’
ilcaa1976 SAR 川上まつ子, AA研「menokoyukar 神謡 4」[aa-irc/011#3]

Gendered ritual speech-acts 1 claims ·9 sentences· 4 examples

How are thanks-expressions and accompanying gestures differentiated by speaker sex in traditional ritual practices?

  1. The polite greeting irankarapte is traditionally given by a man happy to see someone again while performing the ritual gesture of respect (onkami or onkamuy), rather than used as a casual everyday greeting.
    丁寧な挨拶である irankarapte は、伝統的には再会を喜ぶ男性によって敬意を示す伝統的作法（オンカミまたはオンカムイ）を行いながら交わされるものであり、日常的な気軽な挨拶ではない。
    form-function ainu generic irankarapteonkamionkamuy
    asserts ono2022
pirka p poronno k=eunkeray wa. iyairaykere.
good thing many 1SG.A=receive CONJ thank.you
‘You gave me many good things — thank you.’
chiba2015 HK 新井田セイノ, アイヌ語鵡川方言日本語‐アイヌ語辞典 [chiba-mukawa/0#322]
hinna sekor a=ye hi ta makanak iki=an pe ne yaka anime ani a=nukáre easkay kusu néno a=ki kuni i=nisuk ruwe ne
hinna QUOT 4.A=say thing TOP hand.palm.up do=1SG.INTR thing COP DISJ animation INS 4.A=see can.CONJ because so 4.A=do IMP 1SG.O=ask-POSS REP COP
‘When one says 'hinna', the hands move up and down with the palms up; since this can also be shown in animation, I asked them to do it that way.’
aynucorporadiscord SAR 横山裕之, アイヌタイムズ「ゴールデンカムイ oruspe」[ainu-times/068/0#44]
mak raymik hawe ne raymik=an ruwe ne a p oraun
how raymik way COP raymik=4.S REP COP CONJ thing after
‘However she performed the women's greeting (raymik), having done the greeting, and then …’
biratori1969 SAR 貝澤とぅるしの口演 ウエペケㇾ「パㇱクㇽトノ ヤニ アコㇿ」[biratori/004/010#70]
an=utári unukar=an ciki, irankarapte ani ukoitak=an hine, ukomina=an kane a=utúrenteke a=kisma kane okay=an.
4.A=kin meet=4.S CONJ irankarapte INS talk.together=4.S CONJ laugh.together=4.S CONJ 4.A=both.hands 4.A=grasp CONJ exist.PL=4.S
‘When we met, we said 'irankarapte' to each other, we talked and laughed together, and we were together gripping each other's both hands firmly.’
ainukoraci1991 HK 松本成美, アイヌタイムズ 39号「irankarapte」[ainu-times/039/0#3]

Sentence-final particles and gendered interactional register 1 claims ·8 sentences

Do sentence-final particles carry sex-of-speaker features, and what evidence exists for any such distinction?

  1. Unlike Japanese, Ainu does not exhibit major stylistic differences between male and female speech.
    アイヌ語は日本語と異なり、男女の間でそう大きな文体の違いを示さない。
    absence ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024

Honorific and age-conditioned registers 14 claims ·7 sentences

How do age- and status-conditioned registers operate, specifically the use of fourth-person forms as second-person honorifics?

  1. Sakhalin Ainu distinguishes two age-based registers, onneitah 'elders' speech' and sukupitah 'youth speech', acquired individually starting around age 30.
    樺太アイヌ語には、個人が30歳頃から習得する onneitah「年寄言葉」と sukupitah「若言葉」という2種類の年齢文体が存在する。
    existence sakhalin all onneitahsukupitah
    asserts nakagawa2024
  2. The age-graded stylistic split between elders' speech and youth speech found in Sakhalin is absent in other Ainu dialects.
    樺太アイヌ語に見られるような年寄言葉と若言葉の年齢による文体差は、北海道など他のアイヌ語方言には存在しない。
    absence hokkaido all
    reports nakagawa2024
  3. The West Coast Sakhalin dialect is characterized by a grammatical divergence between elderly speech (onne itah) and youth speech (sukuh itah).
    樺太西海岸方言は、老人言葉（onne itah）と若者言葉（sukuh itah）の文法的な用法の相違によって特徴づけられる。
    variation sakhalin all 'onne 'itahsukuh 'itah
    asserts murasaki2025
  4. In the Sakhalin elderly register, the first- and second-person plural forms of ordinary youth speech are used as singular forms.
    樺太の老人言葉では、若者言葉の一人称・二人称複数形が単数形として用いられる。
    variation sakhalin all
    asserts murasaki2025
  5. In Chitose Ainu, small children use the nursery phrase kakka popo when asking to be carried on the back by an older brother.
    千歳方言では、小さい子が兄におんぶを頼む際に幼児表現 kakka popo を用いる。
    form-function hokkaido/chitose all kaypakkaykakkapopo
    asserts nakagawa2024
  6. In the Saru dialect, popo is an affectionate vocative suffix attached to children's names, not restricted to older brothers.
    沙流方言において popo は兄に限らず子どもの名前に後接する親愛の呼びかけ接尾辞である。
    form-function hokkaido/southwest/saru all popo
    reports nakagawa2024
  7. In the Raichishka dialect, speakers aged 60 and older preferentially use an elder register ('elder speech').
    ライチシカ方言の特徴として、60代以上の老人たちが好んで使う「老人ことば」のスタイルがある。
    variation sakhalin/south generic
    asserts murasaki2025
  8. In Sakhalin Ainu, elders aged around 50 and older customarily use 'elder speech', which uses forms that differ entirely from 'youth speech', in ordinary daily conversation.
    樺太アイヌ語では50歳ぐらい以上の老人間、または若者を含む老人グループで、若者言葉とは全く異なる「老人言葉」を日常会話でごく普通に用いる習慣がある。
    variation sakhalin generic
    asserts murasaki2025
  9. Honorific and polite stylistic distinctions based on social hierarchy or social distance between interlocutors are not as elaborately developed in Ainu as in Japanese.
    アイヌ語において、相手と自分の上下関係や親疎関係によって言い方を変える待遇表現は、日本語ほど複雑には発達していない。
    absence ainu generic
    asserts nakagawa2024
  10. At least in Hokkaido dialects, baby talk / nursery words (yōjigo) exist that are used by or addressed to small children.
    少なくとも北海道方言においては、小さい子供が使う、あるいは小さい子供に話しかける時に使う幼児語が存在する。
    existence hokkaido exists
    asserts nakagawa2024
  11. In the Saru dialect, nursery words include ayay (doll, baby), eppo / mamma (cooked rice, food; adult aep), hamu iki / hamuki (sleep; adult mokor), hatata (clothes; adult amip), kakka (carry on back; adult kay, pakkay), nonno (good thing, toy), piyororo (kite?), and totto (mother; adult hapo).
    沙流方言の幼児語には、ayay（人形、赤ちゃん）、eppo / mamma（ご飯、まんま；成人語 aep）、hamu iki / hamuki（眠る；成人語 mokor）、hatata（着物；成人語 amip）、kakka（おぶう；成人語 kay, pakkay）、nonno（よいもの）、piyororo（とんび？）、totto（おかあちゃん；成人語 hapo）などがある。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/saru generic ayayeppomammaaephamu ikihamuki
    reports nakagawa2024
  12. In the Horobetsu dialect, nursery words reported by Chiri (1957) include akka (water; adult wakka), ammo / hammo (sleep; adult mokor), hatco (good thing), hoppo (ki) (sip; adult horopse), hoto (delicious thing), ii (fat meat; adult kirpu), kakka popo kakka (carry on back; adult kay), mamma (breast milk; adult tope), nonno (toy), poppo (kimono; adult amip), sisiki (urinate; adult okuyma), siteka (sit quietly), and uunki (defecate; adult osoma).
    幌別方言の幼児ことばとして、知里（1957）は akka（水；成人語 wakka）、ammo / hammo（眠る；成人語 mokor）、hatco（よいもの）、hoppo (ki)（すする；成人語 horopse）、hoto（おいしいもの）、ii（脂肉；成人語 kirpu）、kakka popo kakka（おんぶする；成人語 kay）、mamma（母乳；成人語 tope）、nonno（おもちゃ）、poppo（きもの；成人語 amip）、sisiki（おしっこする；成人語 okuyma）、siteka（おとなしく坐っている）、uunki（うんちする；成人語 osoma）を挙げている。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/horobetsu generic akkawakkaammohammomokorhatco
    reports nakagawa2024
  13. While totto is a nursery word meaning 'mother' in the Saru dialect, it is an ordinary word for mother in the Ishikari basin and Chitose, likely having originated as a nursery metonymy from 'breast' before becoming standard adult vocabulary in some regions.
    totto は沙流方言では幼児語で「おかあちゃん」を指すが、石狩川流域や千歳などでは母親を指す普通の言葉であり、多くの方言で「乳房」を指すことから乳房の換喩による幼児語が成人語化したと考えられる。
    variation hokkaido/southwest/saruhokkaido/central/ishikarihokkaido/chitose generic totto
    asserts nakagawa2024
  14. In Chitose, the standard word for 'flower' is epanta, but nonno is also used as a nursery word, whereas nonno is the normal word for 'flower' from Yakumo to Saru.
    千歳では「花」を表す通常の語は epanta であるが幼児語として nonno とも言い、八雲から沙流までの地域では nonno は「花」を指す通常の語である。
    variation hokkaido/chitosehokkaido/southwest/yakumohokkaido/southwest/saru generic epantanonno
    asserts nakagawa2024

Reliability of the record and open questions 11 sentences

How reliable is the documentation of gendered registers, and which layers are most and least robustly attested?