Applicatives in Ainu

BUGAEVA, Anna

Applicatives in Ainu are derived by means of the prefixes e-, ko-, and o-. The syntactic role of these prefixes is valency-increasing by itself, and the concrete meaning may vary depending on the lexical meaning of the base verb. Ainu has both typical and unusual applicative construction types which are discussed in detail in the present paper. It is noteworthy that e- applicatives may not only promote oblique relations to object (Benefactive, Instrument, Location), which is the function of applicatives by definition, but may also add the fundamental non-peripheral roles of Theme-Patient or Content thus extending the function of the Ainu applicative to non-causative transitivization. Ainu is often mentioned in works on linguistic theory as an example of a language displaying a prototypical applicative construction in the sense that applicative prefixes can be paraphrased by means of postpositional particles expressing case relations in non-applicative constructions. However, productivity of such prototypical (optional) applicative constructions is highly overestimated: the greater part of e- and ko- applicative constructions, including Theme-Patient, Addressee, Recipient, Benefactive and Malefactive constructions, have no non-applicative paraphrases, so that the applicative construction is the only way to express the respective semantic roles, which means that in most cases it is obligatory (and thus non-prototypical).

https://opac.ll.chiba-u.jp/da/curator/900040764/

https://opac.ll.chiba-u.jp/da/curator/900040764/KJ00004506496.pdf

千葉大学ユーラシア言語文化論講座

紀要論文

AA11256001

千葉大学ユーラシア言語文化論集

9

185

196

2006-10-10

publisher

ユーラシア言語文化論集