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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the place of residence and personal history of the speakers of Ainu in the “Ainu-Russian Dictionary” (Dobrotvorskij 1875). Dobrotvorskijʼs descriptions about speakers are fragmentary, and most of the Ainu speakersʼ places of residence are not known. By comparing the sources from the same period, it is possible not only to clarify the Ainu speakersʼ place of residence and migration, but also to enhance the potential of the dictionary as Ainu language materials. For example, other sources indicate that an Ainu man named Kasituru, who was close to Dobrotvorskij, lived in Komosirara near Kusunnay (currently Ilʼnskoe, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia) from the 1850s to 1876. However, Kasituruʼs eldest daughter and son appeared in the census register of the Usoro district (currently Orlovo) around 1860. Other contemporary sources suggest that the eldest daughter and son moved to Rayčiska (currently Krasnogorsk) and then to Ootuponi (currently Orlovo). The accuracy of the description of the Ainu language in this dictionary will also help us to correct the Russian and Japanese records.

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