アイヌ

See also: アィヌ

Ainu

アイヌ (ainu): three people in traditional Ainu costume, at the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.

Alternative forms

• アィヌ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʔájꜜnù]

Noun

アイヌ (Latin spelling aynu)

1. person, human being
2. (more specifically) Ainu person; the Ainu people
3. man (adult male)
4. comrade
5. (with possessives) father, husband

   クコロ アイヌ

   ku=koro ainu

   my father

Usage notes

This spelling is more common than アィヌ.

The Ainu pronunciation of this term has only two morae, so academic materials may spell this term in kana with the small ィ, or in romaji with a y, to explicitly indicate that the initial vowel is the single-mora diphthong ay (/ai̯/), and not the two-mora diphthong a i (/a.i/).

However, there is no three-mora term a i nu in the Ainu language, and most Ainu texts written in katakana use this spelling instead.

Coordinate terms

• ミチ (mici, “father”)
• ホク (hoku, “husband”)
• シウェンテㇷ゚ (siwentep, “woman”)
• メノコ (menoko, “woman, girl”)
• マッ (mat, “woman, wife, mother”)
• マチ (maci, “wife”)
• ハポ (hapo, “mother”)
• ヘカチ (hekaci, “boy”)

References

• John Batchelor (1905) An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary (including a grammar of the Ainu language)‎^[2], Tokyo, London: Methodist Publishing House; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner Co.
• 中級アイヌ語―美幌― (Chūkyū Ainu-go - Bihoro, “Intermediate Ainu: Bihoro”)‎^[3] (in Japanese), Sapporo, Hokkaidō: 財団法人アイヌ文化振興・研究推進機構 (Zaidan Hōjin Ainu Bunka Shinkō / Kenkyū Suishin Kikō, “Foundation for the Advancement, Research, and Promotion of Ainu Culture”), 2011

• 中級アイヌ語―千歳― (Chūkyū Ainu-go - Chitose, “Intermediate Ainu: Chitose”)‎^[4] (in Japanese), Sapporo, Hokkaidō: 財団法人アイヌ文化振興・研究推進機構 (Zaidan Hōjin Ainu Bunka Shinkō / Kenkyū Suishin Kikō, “Foundation for the Advancement, Research, and Promotion of Ainu Culture”), 2011

Japanese

アイヌ (ainu): three people in traditional Ainu costume, at the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.

Etymology

Borrowed from Ainu アイヌ (aynu, “person, human being”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ア​イヌ [áꜜìnù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [a̠inɯ̟ᵝ]

Proper noun

アイヌ • (Ainu) 

1. Ainu

Derived terms

Derived terms

• アイヌ犬(いぬ) (ainu inu): the Ainu-ken dog breed
• アイヌ語(ご) (ainugo): the Ainu language
• アイヌ人(じん) (ainujin): an Ainu person, the Ainu people
• アイヌ山葵(わさび) (ainu wasabi): “Ainu wasabi”: Cardamine valida, a kind of bitter cress