4. The Sociolinguistic Situation: Endangerment and Revitalization

Historical setting and language shift 11 claims ·11 sentences· 2 examples

How has the historical setting affected language shift?

1. The Kuril variety of Ainu disappeared in the beginning of the 20th century.
   千島アイヌ語は20世紀初頭に消滅した。
   other kuril all
   asserts bugaeva2022
   • bugaeva2022:20.6 asserts checked
2. There is no longer any opportunity to speak Ainu or recount Ainu oral literature in daily life due to modernization and assimilation pressure using the Japanese language.
   近代化と日本語使用を前提とする同化圧力により、日常生活の中でアイヌ語を話したりアイヌ口承文芸を語ったりする機会はもはや存在しない。
   other ainu
   asserts endo2022
   • endo2022:10.5 asserts checked
3. Monolingualism in Ainu was common historically on Hokkaido, with several hundred monolinguals still surviving until the early twentieth century.
   歴史時代の北海道ではアイヌ語のモノリンガルが一般的であり、20世紀初頭まで数百人のモノリンガルが残存していた。
   frequency hokkaido measured
   reports janhunen2022
   • janhunen2022:2.4 reports checked
4. Kuril Aleuts relocated to the Kuril Islands were able to speak the Kuril Ainu language.
   千島列島に移住させられた千島アレウト族は、千島アイヌ語を話すことができた。
   other kuril generic
   reports majewicz2022
   • majewicz2022:4.4 reports checked
5. The Japanese state required the Ainu to learn Japanese in education and pressured them to refrain from using the Ainu language.
   日本国家はアイヌに対し教育の一環として日本語の学習を義務付け、アイヌ語の使用を控えるよう圧力をかけた。
   other ainu
   reports ono2022
   • ono2022:12.2 reports checked
6. By the second half of the twentieth century, the Ainu language was no longer being used in many households.
   20世紀後半までには、多くの家庭ですでにアイヌ語が使われない状況が生じていた。
   other ainu
   asserts ono2022
   • ono2022:12.2 asserts checked
7. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, an unofficial but effective ban prevented the Ainu from learning to speak or read Japanese.
   19世紀初頭に至るまで、アイヌが日本語を話すことや読むことを学ぶことに対して非公式ながら事実上有効な禁止令が存在した。
   other hokkaido generic
   reports refsing1986
   • refsing1986:59 reports checked
8. By the last quarter of the eighteenth century, Russians on the Kurile Islands taught Russian to the native population and converted them to the Russian Orthodox faith.
   18世紀第4四半期までに、千島列島のロシア人は先住民にロシア語を教え、ロシア正教に改宗させた。
   other kuril generic
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:59 asserts checked
9. Under direct Japanese central government rule between 1799 and 1821, officials in Ezo were ordered to use Japanese with the Ainu and encourage them to learn the language.
   1799年から1821年にかけての幕府直轄期において、蝦夷地の役人はアイヌとの接触で日本語を用い、アイヌに日本語習得を奨励することが命じられた。
   other hokkaido generic
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:59 asserts checked
10. As a result of Japanese-language compulsory education and social pressure to assimilate, the Ainu language and traditional lifestyles almost completely disappeared within a couple of generations.
    日本語による義務教育と同化圧力の結果、アイヌ語と伝統的な生活様式はわずか2〜3世代の間にほぼ完全に消滅した。
    other ainu
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986:61 asserts anchored
11. The language shift of Ainu began around 1800 with bilingualism dominated by Ainu, shifted to Japanese dominance between approximately 1900 and 1940, and reached predominant Japanese monolingualism after 1940.
    アイヌ語の言語交替は約1800年にアイヌ語優位の二言語併用として始まり、約1900年から約1940年にかけて日本語優位の二言語併用へと移行し、1940年以降は日本語の単一言語話者化が完了した。
    diachrony ainu generic
    asserts refsing1986
    • refsing1986 asserts checked

The speaker situation 7 claims ·7 sentences

What is the current speaker situation and how is it measured?

1. Assuming that a language is dead when its transgenerational transmission ceases, Ainu should be treated as a dead language.
   世代間継承が途絶えた時点で言語が死滅したとみなすならば、アイヌ語はそのような死語として扱われるべきである。
   other ainu all
   asserts majewicz2022
   • majewicz2022:4.2 asserts checked
2. There are likely no longer any speakers who have lived exclusively using Ainu or who speak Ainu more fluently than Japanese.
   アイヌ語だけで生活したことのある人や、アイヌ語のほうが日本語よりも流暢に話せるという人はもはやいないと考えられる。
   absence ainu none
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:13 asserts checked
3. For dialects such as Yakumo, Nayoro, Bihoro, and Sōya, few materials other than Hattori (1964) have been published, and fluent speakers are no longer known.
   八雲、名寄、美幌、宗谷といった方言では、服部（1964）以外の公刊資料はわずかしかなく、流暢な話者ももはや知られていない。
   absence hokkaido/southwest/yakumohokkaido/northeast/kitami
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:100 asserts checked
4. The number of fluent speakers of Ainu remains small.
   アイヌ語の流暢な話者の数はいまだ少ない。
   frequency ainu
   asserts ono2022
   • ono2022:12.4 asserts checked
5. The number of people who speak Ainu as a mother tongue has not increased despite language classes being held in many places for many years.
   アイヌ語教室が各地で長年開催されているにもかかわらず、アイヌ語を母語として話す人の数は増えていない。
   frequency ainu
   asserts ono2022
   • ono2022:12.4 asserts checked
6. The majority of surviving Ainu speakers at the time of fieldwork were women.
   調査当時において現存するアイヌ語話者の大半は女性であった。
   frequency ainu usually
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:65 asserts checked
7. Sute Orita was not the last speaker of the Shizunai dialect; at least one other woman from the area and Mr. Kuzuno were also able to speak it.
   織田ステ氏は静内方言の最後の話者ではなく、同地域の少なくとももう1人の女性や葛野氏もこの方言を話すことができた。
   existence hokkaido/southwest/shizunai exists
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:65 asserts checked

From documentation to revival 13 sentences

How has the transition from documentation to organized revival occurred?

Legislation and institutions 8 sentences

What laws and institutions support the language?

Orthographic conventions 1 claims ·10 sentences

What writing systems are used and what are their features?

1. The Ainu language originally lacked an indigenous writing system.
   アイヌ語には本来、固有の文字体系が存在しなかった。
   absence ainu
   asserts ono2022, refsing1986
   • ono2022:12.3 asserts checked
   • refsing1986:61 asserts checked

Lexical modernization and neologisms 11 sentences· 1 examples

How does the language create new words for modern concepts?

New-speaker and heritage varieties 13 sentences

What structural consequences arise from all-L2 instruction?