Skip to content
A Grammar of Hokkaido Ainu

Knowledge base · Part XI — Valency, Voice, and Noun Incorporation

77. The Permissive/Sociative Causative -yar

How does the language express permissive or sociative causation, and how does this contrast with the productive causative?

言語は許容・共動使役をどのように表現し、生産的使役とどのように対立するか？

The indirect/permissive causative -yar 'let/have someone do' and the directive-vs-sociative split it forms with -re/-e/-te.

candidate topic from the first edition topic:valency/permissive-sociative-causative-yar read this topic as text

25claims
35statements
14sources
5examples
7sections
47first-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.

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.

  1. The sociative prefixes uko- and uwe- originate from combinations of the reciprocal prefix u- with applicatives ko- and e-, and synchronically function as single valency-retaining markers meaning 'together'.
    協調接頭辞uko-およびuwe-は、相互接頭辞u-と適用接頭辞ko-およびe-の結合に由来し、共時的には結合価を変化させずに「一緒に」という意味を付加する単一の標識として機能する。
    form-function ainu all uko-uwe-
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022
  2. Sociative derivations with uko- are much more frequent than those with uwe-.
    uko-による協調接頭辞派生は、uwe-による派生よりもはるかに頻度が高い。
    frequency ainu generic uko-uwe-
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022
  3. Sociative derivations from 1-argument verbs are exclusively subject-oriented, whereas those from 2-argument verbs can be either subject- or object-oriented depending on context.
    1項動詞からの協調接頭辞派生は専ら主語指向であるのに対し、2項動詞からの派生は文脈に応じて主語指向にも目的語指向にもなりうる。
    distribution ainu all uko-uwe-
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022
  4. The sociative meaning 'together' can also be expressed by combining the reciprocal prefix u- with causative suffixes -re/-e/-te or -ka, mostly on intransitive bases.
    「一緒に」という協調の意味は、相互接頭辞u-と使役接尾辞-re/-e/-teまたは-kaの結合によっても表され、その大部分は自動詞語幹から派生する。
    form-function ainu generic u--re-e-te-ka
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022

Sections

·

Place in the causative system 7 sentences

What are the two main types of causative suffixes and where does the permissive/sociative one fit?

Form and allomorphy 3 claims ·6 sentences

What phonological conditions determine the allomorphs of the permissive/sociative causative suffix?

  1. The causative suffix -yar is realized as -yar after stems ending in vowels and as -ar after stems ending in consonants.
    使役接尾辞 -yar は、母音で終わる語幹の後では -yar、子音で終わる語幹の後では -ar として実現する。
    alternation ainu all -yar-ar
    asserts bugaeva2022
  2. The causative suffix allomorph -yar occurs after sounds other than r, while -ar occurs after r.
    使役接尾辞 -yar, -ar は、r 以外の音の後では -yar、r の後では -ar となる。
    alternation hokkaido all -yar-ar
    asserts nakagawa2024
  3. In the Ishikari dialect, the suffix -yar attaches to the causative form marked by -re/-te and functions as a double causative expressing that the causer makes someone cause the causee to do something.
    石狩方言において接尾辞-yarは規則使役接尾辞-re/-teが付加された使役形に後続し、使役者が仲介者を使って被使役者に何かをさせる二重使役表現として用いられる。
    form-function hokkaido/central/ishikari generic -yar-re-te
    reports shibatani1990

The unexpressed causee 11 claims ·6 sentences· 2 examples

Is the causee argument expressed or suppressed in permissive/sociative causative constructions?

  1. The indefinite causative suffix -yar/-ar retains the valency of the base verb because the causee cannot be overtly expressed as an NP or indexed on the verb.
    不特定使役接尾辞-yar/-arは、被使役者を名詞句や人称標識として明示できないため、基底動詞の結合価を変化させない。
    form-function ainu all -yar-ar
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022
  2. The indefinite causative suffix -yar/-ar does not change verbal valency.
    不定使役接尾辞 -yar/-ar は動詞の価数を変化させない。
    form-function hokkaido/southwest all -yar-ar
    asserts bugaeva2012
  3. The indefinite causative suffix -yar/-ar does not affect valency because the causee is indefinite and cannot be introduced as an argument.
    不定人称使役接尾辞 -yar/-ar は、被使役者が不定であり項として導入され得ないため、結合価を変化させない。
    form-function hokkaido/southwest all -yar-ar
    asserts bugaeva2012
  4. The indefinite causative in -yar/-ar is often used for politeness reasons to avoid mentioning the causee directly.
    -yar/-arによる不特定使役は、被使役者を直接言及しないことが好ましい場合に待遇上の理由からしばしば用いられる。
    form-function ainu usually -yar-ar
    reports bugaevakobayashi2022
  5. The causative suffix -yar expresses plurality of the causee, and after stems ending in r, it drops y to become -ar.
    使役される者の複数を表す形式に -yar があり、この -yar は r で終わる語幹の後では y を脱落させて -ar となる。
    form-function ainu generic -yar-ar
    asserts kindaichi1936
  6. Affixes that do not change arity include affiliative-equivalent nominal prefixes, adverbial prefixes, the causative suffix -yar, and the plural suffix -pa.
    アリティを増減させない接辞には、所属形相当の名詞的接頭辞、副詞的接頭辞、使役接尾辞（-yar）、複数接尾辞（-pa）がある。
    form-function hokkaido generic -yar-pa
    asserts nakagawa2024
  7. The causative suffix -yar / -ar has an arity of 0; the original subject is omitted and the causer becomes the new subject, forming a causative that does not express the causee.
    使役接尾辞 -yar, -ar はアリティが 0 で、元の動詞の主語は消えて使役者が新たに主語となり、「〜に」を表示しない使役を作る。
    form-function hokkaido all -yar-ar
    asserts nakagawa2024
  8. In causative verbs formed with -yar, the causee is non-specific ('anyone') and does not become a syntactic object.
    -yar が付加された使役動詞では、行為を行わせる相手は特定されず（「誰にでも」）、目的語として文に現れない。
    form-function ainu all -yar
    asserts nakagawa2024
  9. Depending on the verb, the agent/causee of the base verb in a -yar/-ar causative can be specified using relational phrases such as or peka, or un, or eun.
    動詞によっては、-yar/-ar による使役文でもとの動詞の動作主にあたるものを or peka、or un、eun などの形式を用いて指定することができる。
    distribution ainu exists or pekaor uneun-ar-yar
    asserts nakagawa2024
  10. The suffix -(y)ar is a suppletive plural causative suffix that marks plurality of the causee.
    接尾辞 -(y)ar は被使役者の複数を標示する補充的な複数使役接尾辞である。
    form-function ainu generic -(y)ar
    asserts shibatani1990
  11. The causee deriving from an intransitive subject does not trigger the plural causee suffix -yar, being treated like the direct object of a transitive clause.
    自動詞主語に由来する被使役者は複数被使役者接尾辞-yarを誘起せず、他動詞節の直接目的語と同様に扱われる。
    distribution ainu generic -yar
    asserts shibatani1990
tuyma no new ka a=korar ka korayniwkes
far even COMP also 4=marry.off also feel.cannot.do
‘I felt I couldn't have her married off far away.’
biratori1969 SAR Biratori oral lit., 木村きみ narration
eun a=nuyar.
to 4.A=hear-CAUS
‘I had it heard / I reported (it) to [them].’
biratori1969 SAR 貝澤 とぅるしの narration (biratori/004/002#80)

Readings: indefinite, permissive, and sociative 6 claims ·10 sentences· 2 examples

What semantic readings does the permissive/sociative causative suffix allow?

  1. The causative suffix -yar is used to avoid specific mention of the agent.
    使役接尾辞-yarは、動作主の明示的な言及を避けたい場合に用いられる。
    form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all -yar
    asserts refsing1986
  2. The indefinite causative suffix -yar/-ar encodes only indirect causation.
    不特定使役接尾辞-yar/-arは間接的使役のみを表す。
    form-function ainu all -yar-ar
    asserts bugaevakobayashi2022
  3. The indefinite causative suffix -yar ~ -ar adds a causer as the new subject but removes the original subject from the clause, leaving the verb's arity unchanged (+0).
    不定使役接尾辞 -yar ~ -ar は使役者を新たな主語として加えるが、元の文の主語は文から除外されるため、動詞のアリティを変化させない（アリティ0）。
    form-function ainu all -yar-ar
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. Ainu possesses a causative suffix -yar that actively indicates that the direct agent/causee of the action is an unspecified person.
    アイヌ語には行為の直接的な主体が不特定の人であることを積極的に示す使役の形式 (-yar) がある。
    form-function ainu -yar
    asserts sato2008
  5. The plural causative suffix -(y)ar is used when the causee is indeterminate and not overtly expressed, without increasing the valency of the verb.
    複数使役接尾辞-(y)arは被使役者が不特定で明示されない場合に用いられ、動詞の結合価を増加させない。
    form-function ainu generic -(y)ar
    reports shibatani1990
  6. The causative suffix -(y)ar is used as an honorific causative expression directing respect toward the causee.
    使役接尾辞-(y)arは被使役者に敬意を向ける敬語使役表現として用いられる。
    form-function ainu generic -(y)ar
    asserts shibatani1990
a=en=kopisi p anakne opitta ku=ye wa ku=nu-yar
4.A=1SG.O=ask NMLZ TOP all 1SG.A=say CONJ 1SG.A=hear-CAUS
‘Everything I was asked I told in full — I made it all known.’
nakagawa2024:432 SAR Nakagawa ex. 959, after Tamura 1984: 12
ipe-yar=an ro
eat-CAUS=4.S HORT
‘Let's have (them) eat.’
bugaevakobayashi2022:§4.3.1 SAR

Contrast with the productive causative 1 claims ·4 sentences

How does the permissive/sociative causative differ from the productive causative in argument structure?

  1. Unlike the causative suffix -re, the causative suffix -yar inherently includes the meaning of an unspecified causee and therefore cannot take a separate noun phrase indicating the causee as an object.
    使役接尾辞 -yar は -re と違って不特定の被使役者の意味を同時に含んでいるため、被使役者を意味する名詞句を目的語として別に取ることはできない。
    distribution ainu none -yar-re
    asserts sato2008

Corpus profile 7 sentences· 1 examples

How frequently does the permissive/sociative causative suffix occur in the Hokkaido corpus?

hokure a=macihi oripakno pirkano suke wa ipeyar.
come.on 4.A=poss.wife humbly well cook CONJ eat-CAUS
‘Quickly, my wife — cook properly and neatly, and feed [them].’
biratori1969 SAR 平賀さだも, uwepeker ‘ウラユシウㇺㇰ’ [biratori/010/003#145]

Open questions 7 sentences

What aspects of the permissive/sociative causative remain unresolved in the literature?