Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Monograph | Materials and Methods of Analysis for the Study of the Ainu Language
Chapter | 1 • Introductory Lesson: Generalities of the Ainu Language
1 • Introductory Lesson: Generalities of the Ainu Language
Abstract
Ainu is a language of Far East Asia historically spoken in the territories
of today’s Russia and Japan that face the Southern Okhotsk
Sea. Specifically, Ainu was spoken all through the Japanese island of
Hokkaidō (also referred to as ‘Ezo/Yezo’ in old sources), in the southern
part of Sakhalin island (called ‘Karafuto’ by Japanese people),
in the Kuril Islands chain (called ‘Chishima’ by Japanese people),
and in the southernmost tip of the Kamchatka peninsula. Although a
number of hypotheses about Ainu’s relation to other languages have
been proposed, the language is presently classified
as an isolate. There exist three main varieties
of the language, that take their names from the regions where the
language was spoken: Hokkaidō Ainu, Sakhalin Ainu, and Kuril Ainu.
Both Kuril Ainu and Sakhalin Ainu are extinct, and Hokkaidō Ainu
is classified as critically endangered by UNESCO.
Published April 4, 2022 | Language: en
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