kkulbeolyeonghwa

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Beginner Ainu Verbs

OWNERSHIP

kor - to have sak - to not have useanu - to take off (clothing, glasses...)

a=kor ekasi - my grandfather

COMMUNICATION

ye - to say itak - to talk, speak nu - to listen nukar - to see

a=kor ekasi a=kor huci i=ye - my grandfather and grandmother told me

EXISTANCE

ki - to do an - to be isam - to not be koan - to exist

ene a=ramu hi ka isam no - I did not know what to think

MOVEMENT

omare - to enter soyne - to exit ek - to come oman - to go

a=teke omare yak a=nukar kusu ne - please put them in my hand so I can see them

FOOD & DRINKS

ku - to drink e - to eat

ani usey a=ku-p isam - my tea bowl is gone.

OTHER

pa - to find konrusuy - to want nuye - to write, carve, tattoo

tomi ka nuye kor an - carved on the sheath

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Colors in Ainu! - Ainu itak; iro

retar - white retara - white (Kaminokuni) kunne - black ekurok - true black hure - red kunnehure - brown toine - brown (Kaminokuni) ruhure - pink hukinane - green hukinatomne - green (Saru) kinane - green (Kaminokuni) (kon)kan(e/i) - gold sirokan(e/i )- silver nis iro - light blue siwnin - yellow (historically also blue&green) nikapiro - yellow (Bihoro) sikerpepeus - yellow (Horobetsu) sikerepepeun - yellow (Kaminokuni) katuwa - grey rayoci - rainbow-colored

The traditional Ainu color scheme has four colors; yellow, white, red and black.

The word for "color", iro, is from the same root as the Japanese word for it, 色; Proto-Japonic *erə is the root for both words. Did you know that this word is also the root for the Palauan word chiro meaning the same thing?

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Ainu -p/pe ㇷ゚/ペ "thing" nominalizing suffix

This is one of the most common words you'll use in Ainu!

You might meet it at the VERY common word "nep" (ネㇷ゚) meaning "what". This word changes any word into a noun.

It is also used to make verbs and adjectives into people. (pirka "good" > pirkap "a good person")

EXAMPLE SENTENCES (mostly Saru dialect):

mak a=eywankep an? How does he use (them)? (What is the way of use)

kewtum pirka sorekusu wa aynu pirkap ne wa kusu... He's good-spirited and is a good person, so...

ney wa saptep ne sinne ya I don't know where it came from (I don't know the origin of it)

kira=an ka eaykap pe ne kusu Since it wasn't possible to escape (escaping was an impossible task/thing, so)

seta ka nep ka isam pe ne ap There were no dogs whatsoever living around us

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Absolute Beginner Ainu: Sentence building

Before we start: some people have been wondering if I'm a bot; no way someone would know Ainu?? Well, I am 100% real, posting original Ainu content here on Tumblr. Feel free to follow me :3

Today we will be making some simple sentences in Ainu, breaking them down, and explaining the structure.

エチイワンケ ヤ？ eci=iwanke ya? Are you good?/How are you?

The sentence starts with the pronoun エチ (eci), "you (plural)". In Ainu, these pronouns are attached to the verb. The non-attached form of this pronoun is エチオカィ (eciokay). If you want to use it in this sentence, you could say something like

エチオカィ アナㇰネ エチイワンケ ヤ？ eciokay anakne eci=iwanke ya?

Here, the independent pronoun is added to the start of the sentence as the subject of the sentence. That is why after the subject, the particle アナㇰネ (anakne) is added to emphasize that this word is the subject.

The ヤ (ya) at the end of a sentence indicates that the sentence is a question.

エイワンケ ヤ？ e=iwanke ya? Are you good?/How are you?

Here, the pronoun is switched to エ (e) "you". The independent form of this word is エアニ (eani)

クイワンケヤ？ ku=iwanke ya? Am I good?

This is a bit philosophical. The pronoun is ク (ku) "I". The independent form is クアニ (kuani)

エイワンケ ノ エアン ヤ？ e=iwanke no e=an ya? Are you good (currently)?/ How are you (currently)

Here, a few words are added.

ノ (no) is an adverbializing particle. It creates adverbs. アン (an) is the verb "to be".

So, literally, the sentence is "You healthily you are (question)"

It doesn't change the meaning much, but adding the アン in makes the question about a thing that is going on currently.

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Fingers in Ainu

Here are the fingers in the Ainu language!

Fun fact! The word for "thumb" means "big finger" and "pinkie" is "little finger!"

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Absolute beginner Ainu sentence structures

dialect: general Hokkaido

[noun] easkay ya? - Can you speak [noun]? [noun] ku=ye eaykap. - I cannot speak [noun] -> [noun] ku=ye ka eaykap - I cannot speak [noun] well.

[noun] wa k(u)=ek - I come from [noun] [noun1] (anak(ne)) [noun2] ta an - [noun1] is in [noun2] [noun1] (anak(ne)) [noun2] oske ta an - [noun1] is in the middle of [noun2] [noun1] (anak(ne)) [noun2] soy ta an - [noun1] is outside of [noun2] [noun1] (anak(ne)) [noun2] ka ta an - [noun1] is above [noun2]

(kuani (anak(ne))) [noun/adj.] ku=ne - I am [noun/adj] (eani (anak(ne))) [noun/adj.] e=ne - You are [noun/adj] ku=[noun(genitive)] [adj.] - my [noun] is [adj.] e=[noun(genitive)] [adj.] - your [noun] is [adj.] ku=kor [noun] [adj.] - my [noun] is [adj.] e=kor [noun] [adj.] - your [noun] is [adj.]

X yakkay Y - even if X, Y X korkay Y - X but Y X ro/no - let's X! X na - X, you know X ya - X?

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

On pronouncing the pronouns in Ainu

イカターーイ！！ IKATAI!! The pronouns are one of my favorite parts of this language, being very varied but not to the point where there are tens of each (looking at you, Japanese). Here are some of my observations from my studies.

クアニ kuani is the independent pronoun "I". I love to pair it with the topic marker アナク anak, IDK it really rolls off the tongue... エアニ eani is the independent pronoun "you" and I love how it goes hand-in-hand with kuani. remove the "ani" part of these words and you get the pronouns that you attach into verbs:

ク ku= is the affix form of the pronoun クアニ. it can also be realized as k= before vowels. Why? Try pronouncing these sentences, I think you can get the ease of using k=. "I get sick" ku=omkekar -> k=omkekar (pronounced komkekar) "I go" ku=oman -> k=oman (pronounced koman)

エ e= is the affix form of the pronoun エアニ. This one has no short forms, but it does have a polite form ア a=. With these pronouns being vowels, you must insert a glottal stop if the verb starts with a vowel. "You get sick" e=omkekar, a=omkekar "You go" e=oman, a=oman

There's a fun twist to the polite speech in Ainu. Some Ainu verbs have plural forms, which are to be used when speaking politely even of one person! So, since the plural of "oman" (to go) is "paye", you'd really say a=paye instead of a=oman. Similarly, the plural of "ek" (to come) is "arki", so you'd say a=arki instead of a=ek.

There ARE 3rd person pronouns, but they aren't used much (except for the plurals) for the same reasons as in Japanese: it's more polite to refer to people by name or occupation. The third-person affix form does not exist, and so it is the only time in Ainu where you are allowed to use verbs on their own. The indefinite singular pronouns are similarly often dropped out of politeness. I've heard the plural "anokay" アノカィ being used way more. The suffixed pronoun for the indefinite series is a= or =an.

Okay, ramble over, hope you learned something new! Feel free to ask me anything about this language, I'd love to answer hehe

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

My take on translating the song 森のくまさん in the Ainu language

(From The Foundation of Ainu Culture, Chitose Beginner Ainu Book, アイヌ語訳：平成22年度イオル事業・アイヌ文化伝承者育成事業 講師・受講者の皆さん)

シネアントタ ニタイ トゥムタ キムンカムイ クヌカラ sine an to ta nitay tum ta kimunkamuy ku=nukar One day I met a bear in the forest. ルサムタ ノンノ ヘチラシパ キムンカムイ クヌカ ラ ru sam ta nonno heciraspa kimunkamuy ku=nukar I met a bear on a road where the flowers bloomed nearby キムンカムイ エネイタキ ポンメノコ ホクレ キラ kimunkamuy ene itak hi pon menoko hokure kira The bear said, "O small girl, run away fast!" ネ コロカイ キムンカムイ エノシ ホユプ ワ エ ク ne korkay kimunkamuy en=os hoyupu wa ek However, the bear followed me. ポンメノコ エネチウカ ネプカイ エハチレ pon menoko en=eciwka nepkay e=hacire "Little girl, you dropped something you were holding!" レタラセイアネカラ ポンポン キサルンペ retar sey an=ekar pon pon kisarunpe "Tiny earrings made from white oak" キムンカムイ イヤイライケレ ウトゥラノ リムセアンノ kimunkamuy iyayraykere uturano rimse=an no "Thank you Bear, let's dance together"

This was fun to translate. I tried not to look at the Japanese translation too much and translated the text word-for-word. The lyrics differ a bit from the original Japanese lyrics of the song.

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Foods in Ainu (beginner-friendly) - ipe

Dialect: mixed Hokkaido

~kam - meat peko kam - cow meat (beef) puta kam - pig meat (pork) cikap kam - bird meat tonoto - alcohol hat - wine wakka - water mean wakka - cold water sat~ - dried~ cep - fish cep kam - fish meat satcep - dried fish (nep) keraanpe - something tasty (nep) topenpe - something sweet amam - rice fu amam - uncooked, raw rice kinakar - herbs aha - shrub bean cipor - salted salmon roe imo~emo - potato rataskep - stir fry, mixed food karus - mushroom ohaw~ohau - soup yamau (=yam ohaw/ohau) - cold soup sito - rice cakes num - berry, fruit ham - leaf hokom - seaweed shippo - salt sum - oil, grease hoya - mugwort ku - to drink ipe - to eat suke - to cook kinakar - to forage for berries/fruit/vegetables ku=iperusuy na! - I am hungry! kera - taste

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Something I love about the Ainu language is the long words. Here are some of them.

Dialect: Ishikari(JP) / Iskarun (AI)

Apehucikamuy - Female god of fire Uramkopaste - To unite Erampokiwen - To feel sorry for... Kamuykuskoraciankur - Person who surpasses god Cianunkopa - To treat like a stranger Cikorataynupikir - Ainu cultural foundation Hoskiannuman - Day before yesterday Yaykosanniyo - To think Yaykohosipire - To go back a bit Ruanpeastekamuy - Rain god

Dialect: Saru(JP) / Sar(AI)

Eyaykosiramsuypa - To think about Kokkasapaha - Knee of... Saroruncikap - Crane (bird) Siketoknawano - Right in front of one's eyes Nokunneywano - From early morning Yaysamanena - Impromptu singing

Dialect: Karafuto(JP) / Sakhalin (ENG) / Karapto (AI)

Isankekamuy - God of the hunt Arapenneimii - Women's undergarments Ekaamesukara - To protect Ekoweepekere - To communicate Ekotanahkara - To destroy a village Ehepitahpahci - To bloom Kotankoronispa - Village leader Simakorayerusuy - "I want to leave this world" (One word) Tumantesukaani - Belt with metal decorations Ramurenkayne - Following one's heart Yayturaheciri - To play together

Karafuto Ainu has a lot of double vowels. Its words are longer than the Hokkaido varieties. I want to learn the dialect, but learning a few Hokkaido ones properly first is a wiser idea.

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Beginner verbs in Ainu

Dialect: Mixed Hokkaido

イエ ye - to speak ヌ nu - to listen エアシカイ easkay - to be able to アラカ arka - to hurt アプカシ apkas - to walk エク ek - to come (plural arki) ヌカラ nukar - to watch see オマン oman - to go (plural paye) オ o - to ride ホシピ hosipi - to return シレパ sirepa - to arrive ソイエンパ soyenpa - to exit エイワンケ eywanke - to use ピシキ piski - to count ヌイエ nuye - to write インカラ inkar - to see トウラ tura - to bring カラ kar - to make コロ kor - to own, possess シノツ sinot - to have fun モコロ mokor - sleep オモキ omoki - to dislike, hate テレ tere - to hold

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Counting non-general things in Ainu!

Check my post on general counting before reading:

Here are some number endings that are commonly used.

-nonno - flowers -ker - shoes -otciki - legs (of furniture) -ay - arrows -paskur - glassware -cep - fish -cise - houses -cip - boats

So, let's say we have four of each: we would have

inenonno - 4 flowers ineker - 4 shoes ineotciki - 4 furniture legs ineay - 4 arrows inepaskur - 4 pieces of glassware inecep - 4 fish inecise - 4 houses inecip - 4 boats

Okay! And if we alternatively have ten of each, we would have:

wannonno - 10 flowers wanker - 10 shoes wanotciki - 10 furniture legs wanay - 10 arrows wanpaskur - 10 pieces of glassware wancep - 10 fish wancise - 10 houses wancip - 10 boats

HOWEVER! The counter for people is irregular:

sinen - 1 tun - 2 ren - 3 inen - 4 asikne nin - 5 iwa nin - 6 arawa nin - 7 tupesan nin - 8 sinepesan nin - 9 wan nin - 10

So, to for example say "six people" you'd say "ainu iwa nin."

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Over 70 followers?

Wow! I didn't even notice 😭 I cannot believe there are that many people interested in what I do! My Ainu series has brought a real wave of new followers!!

Thank you for following! I work hard to bring you my Ainu content. You can't find the stuff I do on the internet in English at all, so I take so much time checking and re-checking my translations for these posts. I'm glad to see that my work is paying off!

If there is anything you'd like me to cover in any of the languages I've studied, let me know!!

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Questions in Ainu

Dialect: mixed

hemanta, nep - what hunna, nen - who inan, inkianpe - which mak, makanak, nekon - how henpak - how many henpara - when hunak - where

Inan to paye an ruwe? - Which day would you like to go?

Nep topenpe - Something sweet

Nep e=kar kusu ne ya? - What have you (plural) made?

Ipakarip hunak ta an ya? - Where is the monster?

Nekon an pe e=e rusuy? - What would you want to eat? (irregular word usage)

Inkianpe e=konrusuy? - Which one would you like to buy?

E=re hemanta ya? - What's your name?

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Counting from 100 in Ainu

The dialect used is Shiraoi. Check my earlier post for 1-100.

Counting bigger things is a bit more complicated, and so as expected, differs between towns and communities. This is just one system.

101 - sinepikasmaasiknehotnep 102 - tupikasmaasiknehotnep 103 - repiskasmaasiknehotnep

As I said in the first post, 100 is asiknehotnep. Ikasma is used in numbers to show that something is added on top of another number. The last number is added to the start of the number.

At 200, the number gets a unique name again just like at 20; wanhotne.

400 - atuyta

600 - wanhotne-etuatuyta

800 - tuatuyta

Counting gets unclear after this point. There are conflicting sources, I'll reblog this post if I find a reliable post about this subject later.

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Counting 1-100 in Ainu sinep-asiknehotnep

The dialect used: Shiraoi

Today, we will learn the numbers in Ainu. In Ainu, there are different number systems used in counting different things. This system I'll be showing now is the one used to count general things (think the East Asian counter word 個)

1 - sinep シネプ 2 - tup ツプ 3 - rep レプ 4 - inep イネプ 5 - asiknep アシクネプ 6 - iwanpe イワン��� 7 - arwanpe アラワンペ 8 - tupes トウペシ (many dialects tupesenpe) 9 - sinepes シネペシ (many dialects sinepesanpe) 9 - wanpe ワンペ

Easy right! These numbers have "roots" which are used when counting further from here:

1 - sine シネ 2 - tu トウ 3 - re レ 4 - ine イネ 5 - asikne アシキネ 6 - iwan イワン 7 - arwan アラワン 8 - tupes トウペシ 9 - sinepes シネペシ 9 - wan ワン

Now, how do we count 11-20?

11 - sinepikasmawanpe 12 - tupikasmawanpe 13 - repikasmawanpe ... 20 - hotnep

See the pattern? The number starts with 1,2,3... all the way to 9, followed by -ikasma + wanpe (10) 20 is its own distinct number, which is the base for numbers when counting further from here.

30 - wanpeetuhotnep

40 - tuhotnep

50 - wanpeerehotnep

60 - rehotnep

See how 20 is the base number here? 40 is literally "two twenty" and 60 is "three twenty". From here, 30 is "ten before forty(two twenty)" and 50 is "ten before sixty(three twenty)"!

To say numbers between these tens, use the same system as 11-19.

31 - sinepikasmawanpeetuhotnep

32 - tupikasmawanpeetuhotnep

Finally, 100 is asiknehotnep. You can probably see how this is formed! "five twenty"

I'll make a post about counting after 100 after!! Go watch it if it's up!

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

General Ainu sentence building

Here's a handy guide on making sentences in the Ainu language.

The sentence structure is Subject-Object-Verb. This will be easier if you know a language like Japanese or Korean which use the same order.

Pronouns have two types: ones to be used "normally" like in English or Japanese, and ones to be attached to the verb. (You've seen the = sign in Ainu text? That's a marker of an attached pronoun.)

There is no verb conjugation. The only time you'll need to modify a verb is when the subject is plural. This is when a verb might change completely. (Check my post on plural verbs.)

Paykar ek. (spring come) - The spring is coming/comes/came. Here, the subject is "paykar" (spring) and the verb "ek" (to come) can mean "to come" at any time. If you would like to specify a time, use words like "numan" (yesterday), "nisatta" (tomorrow) etc.

The sentence structure is very regular.

Toan kur nisatta Sapporo un oman. (that person tomorrow Sapporo to go) That person is going to Sapporo tomorrow. The verb is always at the end of sentences. Here, the subject is "toan kur" so the verb has no pronoun attached to it. However, if the subject is a pronoun, it would look like this;

Nisatta Sapporo un ku=oman. (tomorrow Sapporo to I-go) I'm going to Sapporo tomorrow. The pronoun is attached to the verb. The standalone pronoun can also be included in the sentence;

Kuani anakne nisatta Sapporo un ku=oman. (I (topic) tomorrow Sapporo to I-go) I'm going to Sapporo tomorrow. The meaning of this sentence doesn't change much in English, but including both the standalone and the verb-attachment pronoun act as a stronger message that "I" am DEFINITELY the one going to Sapporo (and nobody else)

Kuani ka keraan topenpe ku=e rusuy. (I also sweet candy I-eat want) I want to eat sweet candy too. The topic marker "anak"/"anakne" and the standalone pronoun (here "kuani" can be left out. However, the pronoun attached to the verb can never be dropped. Therefore, sentences like "kuani ka keraan topenpe e rusuy" are not allowed.