The Aynu World (Mostly the Concept of Space)
Applying the above described method to the material
presented in "Aynu Folklore" by N.A. Nevski - Aynu folklore
narratives collected by Nefu-san in Japan in the first
quarter of the 20th century - we come to following
conclusions: The world in Aynu language can be
classified into eight semantic fields:
1.atuy, rep, pis, sa, ruru ( ocean )
2.kim, nupuri ( mountain )
3.cise ( dwelling )
4.kotan ( settlement )
5.mosiri ( island )
6.pet ( river )
7.Aynu mosiri ( land of aynu=people)
Toponyms and anthroponyms also must be considered as
a part of the Aynu mosiri semantic field.
8.Kamuy mosiri ( land of kamuy ) has the same
structure as the semantic field of Aynu mosiri;
furthermore it is possible to distinguish a field of parts
of the human body and clothing, and a field of
anthroponyms - position or place indicators.
The largest semantic field is that of ocean, for it includes
all other semantic fields in such a way as the island is
included within the ocean, the settlement on the island,
the dwelling in the settlement. Thus the semantic field of
ocean is the most highly structured. Kotan and mosiri
are structures that organise the space. They have
the same structure, for they all have head (pa) and back
(kes) in their structure. And river is the mediator between
mosiri pa and mosiri kes ( more exactly between atuy and
kim). Kim is a continuous (non-discret) spatial object.
And in this connection kim is absolutely opposite to atuy.
Kamuy mosiri is just another island in my understanding,
A lot of toponyms indicate that Aynu space was very concrete.
Image of Aynu Space Structure based on the data extracted from the texts of "Aynu Folklore"
"Mountain" is not associated with "top", so is
not used with the verbs "to climb/to ascend" (rikim), or
"to go up" (hopuni, hopumba). The verbs usually used with
mountain are "to go" (arapa, paye), or "to leave/to
depart" (kuta). At the same time, "sea" and "river" are
used in all cases with the verbs "to descend", "to
condescend" (san,sap). Only in one case are they used
with the verb "to run out" (osma), which means running or
jumping out from some contained or closed space. It is
necessary also to mention the very relevant word
"hemakasi wa" (homakasi), which means "from the
mountains" (for example, wind blowing from the
mountains to the sea). However in a literal translation
hemakasi means "back, to mountains", i.e. from the sea;
that is very indicative. Four words for identification of the
sea were selected and allocated: pis, atuy, rep and ruru.
Thus it is possible to state that the primary spatial
reference points of Aynu relate to sea and river.
Furthurmore, the outcome of applying the
paleolinguistic methodology indicates an absence of an
organizing center or world/global mass; i.e. the amorphism
of spatial pattern in the Aynu world.
At this time I can say that spatial markers can be
frequently used as temporal markers. For example,
orowa - "therefrom" - a marker indicating
"in motion from", also translated as "then"; imakake ta
now". They are, in our view, most typical cases. It is
necessary also to note the fact that, although V.M.
Alpatov writes about the absence in the Aynu language of
the category of tense: "The category of tense absents, the
same verbal forms can refer to past, present or future"
[Alpatov 1997 P.131]; this is not absolutely correct,
because within the Aynu language is a rather definite and
visible system of the analytical aspect-tense forms formed
through using special function words and different
auxiliaries. Alpatov doesn't consider this aspect of Aynu
itak.
P.S. So Aynu space can be treated as definitely syncopation
space…And in this connection I think you should see the
following:
Aynu Culture Through Reggae
References:
Languages of a world. Moscow, 1997.
keywords. Moscow, 2001.
1972.
analysis. Petrozavodsk, 1995.
Tokyo, 1926.
