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A Grammar of Hokkaido Ainu

Knowledge base · Part VI — Word Classes and Nominal Morphology

33. The Word-Class Inventory and the Noun/Verb Bipartition

What are the word classes in Hokkaido Ainu, and how are nouns and verbs distinguished?

北海道アイヌ語にはどのような品詞があり，名詞と動詞はどのように区別されるのか？

The full parts-of-speech inventory of Hokkaido Ainu, the dominant noun/verb split, the morphological and distributional diagnostics that define each class, and noun↔verb category conversion.

candidate topic from the first edition topic:nominal/word-class-inventory-and-diagnostics read this topic as text

55claims
106statements
19sources
7examples
14sections
93first-edition sentences

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Forms mentioned

pe 4utar 3p 3hi 3ku=tekehe 2ruwe 2siri 2hawe 2ani 2wa 2ne 2poro 2oraun 2kusu 2an 1arpa 1e 1kore 1ku= 1ku=mina 1ku=pewre 1en=sam 1*ku=tek 1kor 1a=kor cip 1menoko tek 1sam 1utari 1katu 1kur 1uske 1humi 1ru 1sir 1haw 1hum 1ani e=kanpinuye p 1ramma 1earkinne 1-no 1

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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

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Principles and the class inventory 9 claims ·11 sentences

How are word classes defined in Hokkaido Ainu, and what criteria are used for classification?

  1. The lexicon of Shizunai Ainu is initially divided into three major categories: nominals, verbals, and clitics.
    静内アイヌ語の語彙は、まず名詞類、動詞類、接語類の3大グループに区分される。
    analysis hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986reports majewicz2022
  2. Particles in Ainu fall into five functional classes: case particles, conjunctive particles, adverbial particles, sentence-final particles, and auxiliary verbs.
    アイヌ語の助詞は、格助詞、接続助詞、副助詞、終助詞、助動詞の5種に分類される。
    analysis ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  3. Ainu has no conjugations or other inflectional morphological mechanisms that alter the basic form of a word.
    アイヌ語には、語の基本形を変化させる活用などの語形変化手段が存在しない。
    absence ainu all
    asserts refsing1986
  4. Ainu words are classified on syntactic grounds into seven parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adverbs, prenominals, interjections, auxiliary verbs, and particles.
    統語的特徴のセットに基づき、アイヌ語の品詞は名詞、動詞、副詞、連体詞、間投詞、助動詞、助詞の7種に分類される。
    analysis ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2022pos
  5. Based on grammatical role and formal frame, Ainu words can be classified into six major parts of speech.
    文中の文法的役割と形の上での枠組みに基づき、アイヌ語の品詞は大別して6つに分類できる。
    analysis ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  6. Seemingly bound forms such as case suffixes, noun prefixes, and auxiliaries are historically independent words that assumed less independent roles.
    格接尾辞や助動詞などの拘束形式に見えるものは、歴史的には自立性を低めた自立語である。
    analysis ainu all
    reports refsing1986
  7. Kindaichi proposed classifying Ainu word classes according to whether words can combine with personal affixes.
    金田一は、アイヌ語の品詞分類の基礎として人称接辞と結合できるか否かで分類することを提案した。
    analysis ainu all
    reports refsing1986
  8. Kindaichi suggested dividing Hokkaido Ainu words into those that combine with personal affixes and those that do not.
    金田一は、北海道アイヌ語の品詞分類として人称接辞と結合しうる語と結合しえない語への二分を提案した。
    analysis hokkaido all
    reports refsing1986
  9. The inventory of word classes in Ainu is similar to that of Japanese.
    アイヌ語の品詞の種類は日本語と似ている。
    other ainu all
    asserts sato2008

The defining diagnostics 1 claims ·0 sentences

What diagnostics distinguish verbs from nouns in Hokkaido Ainu?

  1. Adverbs, adnominals, interjections, auxiliary verbs, and non-case particles have an arity of 0, whereas postpositional adverbs and case particles have an arity of +1.
    副詞、連体詞、間投詞、助動詞、格助詞以外の助詞のアリティは 0 であり、後置副詞と格助詞のアリティは +1 である。
    analysis ainu all pirkanoeytasaanituratansine
    asserts nakagawa2024

Verbs 8 claims ·8 sentences· 2 examples

What morphological and syntactic properties define verbs in Hokkaido Ainu?

  1. The predicate position is invariably occupied by a verb phrase whose head is a verb or an auxiliary verb.
    アイヌ語の述語位置は常に動詞句によって占められ、その主要部は動詞または助動詞である。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2022pos
  2. Verbs in Ainu can serve as predicates and take one or two personal affixes.
    アイヌ語の動詞は述語になり、1つないし2つの人称接辞をとる。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  3. The word iomante is inherently an intransitive verb meaning 'to send the spirit of a kamuy'.
    iomante は本来「（カムイの）霊を送る」という意味の自動詞である。
    membership ainu specific iomante
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. The smallest verbal form capable of functioning as an independent word is called the basic form of the verb.
    自立語として成立する最小の動詞形式を動詞の基本形と呼ぶ。
    terminology hokkaido all komkekomotuyetuy
    asserts nakagawa2024
  5. Unlike Japanese verbs, Ainu verbs make no formal distinction between conclusive and conjunctive forms.
    日本語と異なり、アイヌ語の動詞には終止形と連用形の形式的区別が存在しない。
    absence ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  6. Verbals are defined as forms that can function as predicates.
    動詞類は述語になりうる形式として定義される。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  7. Forms showing semantic unity but grammatically behaving as two words are tentatively called separable verbs.
    意味的には一語のまとまりを示しながら文法的には二語として現れる形式は分離動詞と呼ばれる。
    terminology ainu all
    asserts sato2008
  8. Separable verbs are limited in number, but many express basic meanings and are frequently used.
    分離動詞は語数が限られているが、基本的な意味を表し頻繁に用いられるものが多い。
    frequency ainu most kes anpaka opaska opiwkika oseka oykipar oyki
    asserts sato2008
Toan nupuri ri.
DEM mountain be.high
‘That mountain is high.’
shibatani1990:19 HK
Rera ruy.
wind be.strong
‘The wind is strong.’
shibatani1990:19 HK

Nouns 7 claims ·16 sentences· 2 examples

What properties define nouns in Hokkaido Ainu, and what subclasses do they have?

  1. Nouns are defined as elements that form noun phrases capable of serving as arguments (subject or object) to a predicate.
    名詞は名詞句を形成して述語の項（主語や目的語）になりうる要素として定義される。
    analysis ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2022pos, nakagawa2024
  2. In Refsing's analysis, nominals are defined as any free forms that cannot function as predicates.
    レフシングの分析において、名詞類（nominals）は述語になり得ないすべての自立形式として定義される。
    terminology hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  3. Nouns in Ainu do not serve as predicates, serve as verb arguments, and take at most one personal affix.
    アイヌ語の名詞は述語にならず、動詞の項になり、人称接辞をとる場合は最大ひとつとる。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. In the Saru and Chitose dialects, okkay is not used as an independent noun.
    沙流・千歳方言では okkay は自立した名詞としては用いられない。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/saruhokkaido/chitose specific okkay
    asserts nakagawa2024
  5. Noun prefixes are strictly adjacent to their head nouns and restricted to specific noun subclasses, unlike adnouns.
    名詞接頭辞は連体詞と異なり先行する名詞に密接に結合し、その分布は特定の名詞群に限定される。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  6. Noun suffixes extend nominals without altering their syntactic function or nominal status.
    名詞接尾辞は名詞類を拡張するが、その統語的機能や名詞類としての地位を変化させない。
    analysis hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  7. Ainu nouns exhibit neither case inflection nor grammatical gender distinctions.
    アイヌ語の名詞には格屈折も文法性の区別も存在しない。
    absence ainu all
    asserts shibatani1990
en=sam un tup kor oka.
1SG.O=beside ALLAT move.across CONJ exist
‘(she) has come over to my side’
nakagawa2024:241 CHI
a=kor rus utar
4.A=have fur ASS
‘my furs’
biratori1969 SAR 川上まつ子 '和人になった兄' (1986), NAM database nam-archive/kawakami-minwa/13, line 226

Formal (defective) nouns 6 sentences· 1 examples

What are formal nouns in Hokkaido Ainu, and what are their syntactic restrictions?

tan-pe anak su sekor a=ye p ne.
DEM-NMLZ TOP pot QUOT 4.A=say NMLZ COP
‘This is what is called a pot.’
nakagawa2024:287 SAR

Adverbs and postpositional adverbs 9 claims ·8 sentences

How do adverbs behave in Hokkaido Ainu, and what affixes do they lack?

  1. The adverb sonno does not take person affixes, in contrast to intransitive verbs like sunke.
    副詞 sonno は人称接辞を取らないが、自動詞 sunke は人称接辞をとる。
    membership sakhalin specific sonnosunke
    asserts murasaki2025
  2. Adverbs do not serve as predicates or verb arguments, modify verb phrases, and take objective personal affixes if any.
    副詞は述語や動詞の項にならず、動詞句を修飾し、人称接辞をとる場合は目的格をとる。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  3. Verbs converted into postpositional adverbs do not take nominative personal affixes.
    後置副詞に転換した動詞は主格人称接辞をとらない。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. The word usa is basically an adverb but can be used adnominally in repetitive coordination.
    usa は基本的には副詞であるが、反復並列構文において連体詞的にも用いられる。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/saru all usa
    asserts nakagawa2024
  5. Negative and prohibitive words such as somo and iteki are adverbs that precede the verb phrase they modify.
    somo や iteki などの否定詞・禁止詞は、被修飾動詞句に先行する副詞である。
    analysis ainu all somoiteki
    asserts nakagawa2024
  6. Conjunctions, interjections, and adverbs in Shizunai are free forms functioning syntactically as adverbial adjuncts that cannot serve as relational adjuncts.
    静内方言における接続詞・感動詞・副詞はいずれも副詞的付加語として機能する自立形式であり、関係付加語にはなれない。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  7. Conjunctions, interjections, and adverbs are free forms that may function as adverbial adjuncts modifying whole sentences.
    接続詞、間投詞、副詞はいずれも遊離形式であり、連用付加語として文全体を修飾することができる。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts refsing1986
  8. Adjuncts that are not subjects, objects, case-marked, or quotations are categorized as adverbial adjuncts to the predicate.
    主語、目的語、格標示要素、引用のいずれでもない付加詞は、述語に対する副詞的付加詞として扱われる。
    analysis hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  9. Postpositional adverbs express meanings similar to case particles but can also be used independently.
    後置副詞は格助詞と類似した意味を表すが、単独でも用いることができる。
    form-function ainu all
    asserts sato2008

Adnouns and prenominals 6 claims ·5 sentences· 1 examples

What are adnouns in Hokkaido Ainu, and how do they differ from other word classes?

  1. Words that always precede a noun and function exclusively to modify nouns are defined as adnominals.
    常に名詞に先行し、専ら名詞を修飾する機能のみをもつ語が連体詞と定義される。
    terminology sakhalin all
    asserts murasaki2025
  2. Adnominals do not serve as predicates or verb arguments, modify noun phrases, and take no personal affixes.
    連体詞は述語や動詞の項にならず、名詞句を修飾し、人称接辞をとらない。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  3. The general adnominal oar functions both as an adnominal and as an adverb.
    一般連体詞 oar は連体詞としても副詞としても機能する。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/saru all oaroar tekoar isam
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. The words sonno and sino can function both as adnominals meaning 'real/true' and as adverbs.
    sonno と sino は「本当の」を意味する連体詞としても副詞としても機能する。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/saruhokkaido/chitose all sonnosino
    asserts nakagawa2024
  5. Adnouns are distinguished from verbal modifiers by their inability to occur in predicate position.
    連体詞は述語位置に立ち得ないことによって動詞的修飾語と区別される。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all pirkasino
    asserts refsing1986
  6. Adnouns modify nouns and occasionally nominalizers, precede the noun, and cannot occur in predicate position.
    連体詞は名詞や場合により名詞化辞を修飾し、名詞に先行し、述語位置に立つことができない。
    distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all sino
    asserts refsing1986
pon hekaci
be.small child
‘a small child’
nakagawa2022pos:475

Particles and auxiliary verbs 5 claims ·6 sentences

What types of particles exist in Hokkaido Ainu, and what grammatical functions do they serve?

  1. Clitics are bound forms unable to appear independently either as predicates or as isolated adjuncts to a predicate.
    接語類（クリティック）は、述語としても述語の単独の付加語としても自立して現れることができない結合形式である。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986
  2. According to Batchelor, there is no article in the Ainu language.
    バチェラーによれば、アイヌ語には冠詞が存在しない。
    absence ainu all
    reports majewicz2022
  3. Particles in Ainu attach to free elements to express grammatical relationships.
    アイヌ語の助詞は自立要素に後続して文法的関係を表す。
    form-function ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024
  4. In Tamura's model, an adverbial particle combines with verbal, nominal, or adverbial forms to yield forms of the same category.
    田村の体系では、副助詞は動詞形・名詞形・副詞形と結合してそれぞれ同種の形式を形成する。
    analysis hokkaido/southwest/saru all
    reports refsing1986
  5. The term restrictive postposition covers focus particles, restrictives, quasi-restrictives, comparators, and distributives.
    限定後置詞という用語は、取り立て助詞、限定助詞、準限定助詞、比況助詞、分配助詞を包括する。
    terminology hokkaido/southwest/shizunai all
    asserts refsing1986

Interjections 1 claims ·3 sentences

How do interjections function syntactically in Hokkaido Ainu?

  1. Interjections have no syntactic relation with other elements and form independent sentences on their own.
    間投詞は他の要素と統語的関係を持たず、それ自体で独立した文をなす。
    distribution ainu all
    asserts nakagawa2024

The no-adjective analysis 2 claims ·12 sentences· 1 examples

Why is there no adjective class in Hokkaido Ainu, and how are property concepts expressed?

  1. Chiri Mashiho's 1942 study was the first to propose that there is no need to distinguish verbs from adjectives in Ainu.
    知里真志保（1942）はアイヌ語において動詞と形容詞を区別する必要がないことを初めて主張した。
    analysis ainu all
    reports nakagawa2024
  2. There is no need to posit an independent word class of adjectives in Ainu.
    アイヌ語において独立した品詞としての形容詞クラスを設ける必要はない。
    analysis ainu all
    asserts shibatani1990
tunasno pirka
quickly be.good
‘Get well quickly!’
nakagawa2024:119 SAR

Three disputed boundaries 0 sentences

What are the disputed boundaries in the word‑class system of Hokkaido Ainu?

The verb–noun continuum 7 claims ·4 sentences

How do verbs and nouns interconvert in Hokkaido Ainu without morphological marking?

  1. All intransitive (one-place) verbs in Ainu can in principle function grammatically as nouns without morphological stem change.
    アイヌ語のすべての自動詞（1項動詞）は、語幹の形態論的変化なしに原理的に名詞としても機能しうる。
    membership ainu all uwepeker
    asserts bugaeva2016, nakagawa2024
  2. The word ekimne can function both as an intransitive verb and as an adverb.
    語 ekimne は自動詞としても副詞としても機能する。
    membership hokkaido/chitose specific ekimne
    asserts bugaeva2022
  3. In Sakhalin Ainu, verb stems function not only as verbs expressing actions but also as verbal nouns meaning 'doing ...'.
    樺太アイヌ語において、動詞語幹は動作を表す動詞機能のほかに「〜すること」を表す動名詞としても機能する。
    membership sakhalin all
    asserts murasaki2025
  4. In the Saru dialect, tokapipe is used both as a noun meaning 'lunch' and as a one-place verb.
    沙流方言において tokapipe は「昼飯」を表す名詞としてだけでなく、1項動詞としても用いられる。
    membership hokkaido/southwest/saru specific tokapipe
    asserts nakagawa2024
  5. The intransitive verb sukup 'to grow up' expresses 'life, living' when used nominally on its own.
    自動詞 sukup「育つ」は、単独で名詞的に用いられると「生活、人生」を意味する。
    form-function hokkaido/southwest/saru specific sukup
    asserts sato2008
  6. In Sakhalin Ainu, an unmodified intransitive verb used as a noun expresses a general concept.
    樺太アイヌ語において、無変化の自動詞が名詞として用いられると一般的な概念を表す。
    form-function sakhalin all
    asserts tangiku2022
  7. In both Sakhalin and Hokkaido dialects, an intransitive verb or one-valence verb phrase can be used as a noun expressing a general concept.
    樺太および北海道方言において、自動詞または1価の動詞句は一般的な概念を表す名詞として用いることができる。
    form-function sakhalinhokkaido all
    asserts tangiku2022

Conjunctions: a distributed category 6 sentences

How are conjunction‑like functions realized in Hokkaido Ainu?

Nominalizers: subclass or grammatical role? 8 sentences

How are nominalizers analyzed in Hokkaido Ainu: as a subclass or a grammatical role?