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A Ainu language (Ainu: アイヌ イタㇰ, aynu itak; Japanese: アイヌ語, ainu-go) is spoken per Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It was it used to be that spoken in the Kurile Islands, the northern a share of Honshu, and a southern half of Sakhalin. Ainu is thought to become the language isolate with no known relation to more languages. These are occasionally grouped by using a Paleosiberian languages, but this is only a handle term for many isolates & little language families believed to own been present inside Siberia before the arrival of Turkic and Tungusic speakers; it is non the proper language family. Virtually all linguists imagine a divided up vocabulary between Ainu & Nivkh is due to borrowing; there are also loanwords both from either Ainu to Japanese & Japanese to Ainu. Within recent years, a Japanese linguist Shichiro Murayama & others keep around tried to hyperlink it by two vocabulary and cultural comparisons to the Austronesian languages. Alexander Vovin (1993) presented grounds to believe suggesting the distant connection sustaining Austroasiatic; he regards this hypothesis as preliminary.
Speakers Even so, utilise of the language is on the rise. There exists presently an active revitalization movement — mainly inside Hokkaido however likewise elsewhere — to reverse a centuries-long decline in the total of speakers. This has led to an increasing total of 2nd-language learners, especially inside Hokkaido, in prominent a share due to the pioneering efforts of Ainu folklorist, militant & previous Diet member Shigeru Kayano, himself a native speaker.
Phonology Ainu syllables are CV(C) (that is, they stand an obligatory syllable onset and an optional syllable coda) and there are couple consonant clusters. There are 5 vowels: |+ A vowels of Ainu |- ! !! Front !! Central !! Back |- ! Close | i personally || || u |- ! Mid | e || || o |- ! Open | || the || |}
Consonants:
|+ A consonants of Ainu
!
!Bilabial
!Labio- A sequence . There is a pitch accent system; words including affixes have the high pitch on the stem, or even on the number 1 syllable whenever these are closed or has a diphthong. More words keep around a high pitch on the 2nd syllable.
Typology and grammar Ainu is SOV, with postpositions. Subject & object come normally marked by using postpositions. Nouns could cluster to modify a single an additional; a head comes at a prevent. Verbs, which are then inherently either transitive or even intransitive, assume various derivational affixes. Typologically, Ainu is similar in word sequentially (& a bit of aspects of phonemics) to Japanese and Korean, while its high degree of synthesis is more reminiscent of languages to its northerly & east.
Writing Officially, the Ainu language is written inside a limited version of the Japanese syllabary katakana. There exists likewise the Latin-based alphabet around have. A Ainu Times publishes in two. In the Latin writing system, is written either as an peer sign (=) for glottal ends between vowels (like around a=sapte), or even as a t prior even to or the doubling of the resulting consonant (like inside cotca or even hoyuppa, very much like inside romanized Japanese). More phonemes utilise a equivalent character when a given IPA transcription above. A Unicode character range Katakana Phonetic Extensions (31F0-31FF) [http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/katakana_phonetic_extensions.html], [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U31F0.pdf] includes katakana characters mainly for the Ainu language. Katakana for final consonants, which don't come out witharound Japanese, come utilized typically in Ainu.
Oral literature A Ainu have a rich unwritten tradition of hero-sagas known as Yukar, which retain the total of grammatical & lexical archaicism. Look at likewise: Kannari Matsu Chiri Mashiho Chiri Takao KyÅ?suke Kindaichi BronisÅ‚aw PiÅ‚sudski Ainu music
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John Batchelor Life story of John Batchelor (1854-1944), the Englishman who became the first westerner to learn the Ainu language, write its grammar in English, and make the Ainu known in the western world. Literatures and Materials on the Ainu Language for Learners Extensive bibliography of printed and audiovisual materials, as well as a collection of links to web pages on the subject. Bilingual site (English and Japanese). The Ainu Language and Japan's Ancient History Collection of papers concerning the history and possible genetic relationships of the Ainu language. There is also a collection of e-mail correspondence concerning the topic. Aekirushi Ainu folklore in Ainu. Language Portraits - Words and Images Ainu version of the poem "Full Circle" by Elly Sherman. The text is in the Japanese katakana syllabic script. The sound file is also available. The Ainu Language Survey of the language, with extensive discussion of its potential linguistic relationships and the origin of the Ainu people. The Ainu Language Basic sentences and numerals in Ainu, with corresponding downloadable sound files and English equivalents. Bilingual site (Japanese and English). Also, some sociolinguistic information on the language. The Relationship between Basque and Ainu An article by Edo Nyland discussing the possible relationship between Ainu and Basque, with extensive word lists. The Ainu Language Bibliography of books, papers, journals and newsletters (mostly written in Japanese) about the Ainu language. The Ainu Language and Esperanto An Esperantist's pro-Ainu language support page including excerpts from a bilingual Ainu-Esperanto newspaper, an Ainu grammar and the Ainu Shin'yooshuu (collection of Ainu Sacred Songs). |
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