Ainu
Nouns table
| gloss | layer | stem-final segment | basic | possessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| broth | lexeme | consonant | rur | ruri |
| broth | suffix | consonant | zero | i |
| buttocks | lexeme | consonant | osor | osoro |
| buttocks | suffix | consonant | zero | o |
| foot | lexeme | consonant | cikir | cikiri |
| foot | suffix | consonant | zero | i |
| forehead | lexeme | consonant | kiputur | kiputuru |
| forehead | suffix | consonant | zero | u |
| hair | lexeme | consonant | otop | otopi |
| hair | suffix | consonant | zero | i |
| hand | lexeme | consonant | tek | teke |
| hand | suffix | consonant | zero | e |
| house | lexeme | vowel | cise | cisehe |
| house | suffix | vowel | zero | he |
| knee | lexeme | consonant | kokkasap | kokkasapa |
| knee | suffix | consonant | zero | a |
| mouth | lexeme | vowel | caro | caroho |
| mouth | suffix | vowel | zero | ho |
| nose | lexeme | vowel | etu | etuhu |
| nose | suffix | vowel | zero | hu |
| relative | lexeme | vowel | apa | apaha |
| relative | suffix | vowel | zero | ha |
| tooth | lexeme | consonant | imak | imaki |
| tooth | suffix | consonant | zero | i |
| village | lexeme | consonant | kotan | kotanu |
| village | suffix | consonant | zero | u |
| younger sister | lexeme | consonant | tures | turesi |
| younger sister | suffix | consonant | zero | i |
Ainu notes
Around 50 nouns have distinct possessed forms that mark inalienable possession:
| ku | tekehe | rekut | puyehe | |
| I | hand.POSSESSED | throat | hole.POSSESSED | |
| ‘my hand’ | ‘throat opening’ | |||
With vowel-final stems the possessed form takes the suffix -hV, with consonant final stems -V(hV) (the second -hV portion appears to be optional). With vowel-final stems the quality of V matches that of the stem-final vowel. With consonant-final stems it is at least in part lexically specified.
References
Refsing, Kirsten. 1986. The Ainu language: the morphology and syntax of the Shizunai dialect. Aarhus: Univ. Press