アイヌ語樺太方言における数詞と計算

北海道大学大学院文学研究院北方研究教育センター

北方人文研究

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the numeral system in Sakhalin Ainu recorded from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. In the Ainu language, fundamental methods of counting are decimal and vigesimal. The decimal system is used for numbers below 20, and the vigesimal system for numbers from 20 and above. From previous studies, it is known that the decimal system is widely used in Sakhalin Ainu. I investigated numerals in Dobrotvorskij (1875), Yamabe (1913), Laufer (1917), Naert (1961), and Hattori (ed.) (1964), whose descriptions are recognized as accurate. From the investigation of the above materials, the following was found. (1) From 11 to 19, the construction was fixed to D + B (D: digit; B: base number). (2) Although the base numbers in the decimal system such as kunkutu “ten”, tanku “hundred”, and wantanku “thousand” are confirmed in most of the records, the base numbers such as hoh “20”, (sine)wano “200”, and way(sine)wano “2,000” were productively used only in Dobrotvorskij (1875). (3) There are two methods for expressing numbers larger than 10,000 and 20,000: (a) nominal numeral phrase type and (b) the nominal numeral (phrase) continuous type (= multiplication).