List of Ainu terms

The Ainu language of the Ainu people is distinct from those of the people around them.

The list is ordered alphabetically by romanization.

A

* aca (アチャ) - father; uncle; a middle-aged man (Ainu "aca" may mean either "father" or "uncle" depending on the dialect)
** acapo (アチャポ) - uncle (also "acipo" アチポ in some dialects)
* ak （アㇰ）- younger brother (explicitly possessed form "aki" or "akihi")
** ku-aki (クアキ) - my younger brother
* amam (アムアム、アマム) - rice; cereals (also "amama" アママ in some dialects)
* an-noski (アンノㇱキ) - midnight (also "annoske" in some Ainu dialects)
* anun (アヌン) - stranger, outsider; another person, someone else('s), not oneself, not one's own
* apa (アパ) - doorway
* ape (アペ) - fire
** Ape-Huci-Kamuy (アペフチカムイ) - name of the Ainu fire god (literally, "Fire-Grandmother-Deity")
* apto (アプト) - rain; [dial.] storm, thunderstorm (pronounced as "ahto" in some dialects)
* apu (アプ) - ice drift, sea ice (also "ap" in some dialects)
* arka (アラカ) - painful, sore, hurting (in some dialects pronounced as "araka" or "arga")
* as (アシ) - ["sing."] to stand; to fall (as rain, snow, etc.), to blow (as wind), to be produced, to be made, to be heard (as a sound, a voice, etc.)
* asam (アサム) - bottom; depths; foundation (also "asama" アサマ in some dialects)
* at (アッ) - string, cord; elm fibre
** atni (アッニ) - Manchurian elm, "Ulmus laciniata"
* atte (アッテ) - [v.t.] to hang (it), to hang up, to suspend
* attus (アットゥㇱ) - traditional Ainu coat made from fibers harvested from the bark of the Manchurian elm or the Japanese linden [http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/senshoku/ryui.htm]
* atusa (アトゥサ) - naked, bare
* atuy (アトゥイ) - sea, ocean (also "atuyka" アトゥイカ in some dialects)
* aw (アウ) - tongue (explicitly possessed form "awe" or "awehe")
* ay (アイ) - thorn; arrow (explicitly possessed form "aye" or "ayehe")
* aynu (アイヌ) - person; human, mankind; the traditional name for the Ainu people
** Aynu-Mosir (アイヌモシㇼ) - the land of humans; the earth

C

* cape (チャペ) - cat (cf. Aomori, Akita, and Yamagata Japanese dialects "chape" ちゃぺ or "chappe" ちゃっぺ "cat")
* caranke (チャランケ) - appeal (n)
* casi (チャシ) - fence; enclosure; fortress, castle
* cep (チェプ) - fish (also "ciep" チエプ in some dialects)
* ci (チ) - penis, a male's private parts (explicitly possessed form "ciye" or "ciyehe")
* cikap （チカプ) - bird, [esp.] owl (cf. Chikap Kamuy)
* cip (チプ) - canoe, boat, ship
* cir (チリ) - bird
* cironnup (チロヌッㇷ゚ ) - fox
* cis (チシ) - to cry, to weep, to howl
* cise (チセ) - house/home
* ciw (チウ) - tide; current (of a stream, a river, or the sea); wave(s)
* ciw (チウ) - to stab, to pierce
* cuk （チュㇰ) - autumn
* cup （チュプ) - luminary, sun, moon; month

E

* emusi (エムシ) - sword
* erum (エルム) - mouse, rat (sometimes also "erem" エレム)
* esaman (エサマン) - otter
* etu (エトゥ) - nose; beak; a projecting tip of anything, the end (of a projecting part)

H

* ham (ハム) - leaf
* hanke (ハンケ) - near
* hanku (ハンク) - navel (dialectal variants include "hankapu" ハンカプ, "hankapuy" ハンカプイ, "hanka" ハンカ, "hanko" ハンコ)
* hapo (ハポ) - mother
* harki (ハリキ) - left (左) (dialectal variants include "harke" ハリケ)
** harki-sam (ハリキサム) - left side
* haw (ハウ) - voice (explicitly possessed form "hawe" ハウェ or "hawehe" ハウェへ)
* hemanta (へマンタ) - what? (dialectal variants include "hemata" へマタ)
* hempakpe (ヘンパクペ) - how many (things)?
* hese (ヘセ) - to breathe; to sigh
* hok (ホク) - to buy (dialectal variants include "hoh" ホフ)
* hoku (ホク) - husband (explicitly possessed form "hokuhu"; dialectal variants include "oku(hu)")
* hom (ホム) - a knot (in wood); a joint (of bamboo)
**nihom (ニホム) - a knot in wood, a knot in a tree (explicitly possessed form "nihomi" ニホミ; in some dialects, the two morphemes that compose this compound are maintained as separate words, i.e. "ni hom" instead of "nihom")
**tophom (トプホム) - a joint of bamboo (in some dialects, this form is maintained as two separate words, i.e. "top hom" instead of "tophom")
* hon (ホン) - belly, abdomen, stomach (explicitly possessed form "honi" ホニ or "honihi" ホニヒ)
* huci (フチ) - grandmother; old woman
* humpe (フンペ) - whale
* hure (フレ) - (to be) red

I

* inaw (イナウ) - sacred shaved stick, symbolizing a bird, used for prayer [http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/ainu/html/room01.html]
* iomante (イオマンテ) - the Ainu bear festival [http://www.bears.org/spirit/ainumyth.html]
* ipe （イペ） - [v.i.] to eat, to have a meal; [n.] fish (especially the likes of salmon, trout, or sturgeon)
** somo ku-ipe na (ソモ　クイペ　ナ) - I won't eat.
* ipetam (イペタㇺ) - legendary Ainu sword [http://www32.ocn.ne.jp/~shoppe/LegeEg.htm] (literally, the "eating blade" or the "blade that eats (people)")
* ironne (イロンネ) - thick (as a flattish object)
* isepo (イセポ) - rabbit, hare (イソポ "isopo" in some dialects)
* itak (イタㇰ) - language
* iwaw (イワゥ) - sulfur (cf. Japanese "iō" (硫黄) "sulfur")

K

* kam (カム) - meat, flesh (explicitly possessed form "kami" or "kamihi")
* kamuy (カムイ) - god, spirit; bear
* Kamuy-Kara-Puto-Ya-Mosir (カムイカラプトヤモシㇼ) - supposedly means "mouth of water"; refers to Karafuto, or the mouth of the Amur River
* Kamuy-Mosir (カムイモシㇼ) - "Land of the Gods"; heaven
* kamuy-nomi (カムイノミ) - to pray to the gods
* kanna (カンナ) - upper, above
* kanto (カント) - sky, heaven
* kap (カプ) - skin, fur, rind, peel, bark, outer covering of anything (explicitly possessed form "kapu" or "kapuhu")
** kapkar (カプカラ) - to skin, to peel, to remove the rind, to strip the bark
* kapap (カパプ) - bat (the flying mammal)
* kapar (カパラ) - thin (as a flattish object)
* kapiw (カピウ) - seagull
* kar (カラ) - to make, to prepare, to produce, to do
* karku (カㇻク) - nephew
* karus (カルシ) - mushroom
* kawkaw (カウカウ) - hail, sleet
* kem (ケム) - blood
** kemnu (ケㇺヌ) - to bleed
** kemorit (ケモリッ) - a blood vessel; a vein or an artery (also "kemrit" ケムリッ)
** kemus (ケムシ) - bloody, covered in blood, having blood all over
* kem (ケㇺ) - shortage of food, famine, hunger, starvation
** kemekot　(ケメコッ) - to starve to death, to die of hunger
** kemnoye　(ケㇺノイェ) - to starve to death, to die of hunger
** kemus (ケムシ) - famished, starving; there is/was a famine
* kem (ケㇺ) - a needle
** kemeyki　(ケメイキ) - to do needlework, to sew
* ker (ケレ) - footwear, shoe, boot (explicitly possessed form ケリ "keri")
* kera (ケラ) - taste, flavor
* kes (ケシ) - end (explicitly possessed form ケセ "kese" or ケセへ "kesehe")
* kes- (ケシ) - every (day, year, etc.)
* ki (キ) - to do
* ki (キ) - louse
* kikir (キキリ) - bug, insect, worm
* kim (キム) - mountain
* kina （キナ） - grass, herb, (edible or otherwise useful) plant; a kind of mat woven from dried bulrush leaves with decorative patterns executed in cotton cloth
* kira (キラ) - to run away, to flee
* kiraw (キラウ) - horn, antler (explicitly possessed form "kirawe" キラウェ or "kirawehe" キラウェへ)
* kiray (キライ) - comb
* kiror (キロロ) - strength, power, ability
* kisar (キサラ) - ear
* kitay (キタイ) - top of anything; summit, peak (of a mountain); roof (of a house)
* konci (コンチ) - hat
* konru (コンル) - ice; [dial.] hail; [dial.] sleet
* kor (コロ) - to hold; to have
* kore (コレ) - to give (probably from the causative form of Ainu "kor" "to hold; to have," i.e. *"kor-de" > "kor-e" "to cause to hold; to cause to have" > "kore" "to give")
* Korpokkur (コロポックル) - name of a traditional Ainu folktale [http://www.fun.ac.jp/~seberry/ainu.html]
* kotan (コタン) - village, settlement; dwelling place
**Kamuy-Kotan (カムイコタン) - [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%9E%E5%B1%85%E5%8F%A4%E6%BD%AD Kamuikotan] , a scenic area located in the valley of the Ishikari River (literally, "dwelling place of (a/the) god")
* ku (ク) - bow
* ku (ク) - to drink; to smoke (tobacco, etc.)
* kumi (クミ) - mold
** kumius (クミウシ) - moldy, rotten and covered in mold
* kunki (クンキ) - nail (cf. Japanese 釘 "kugi")
* kunne (クンネ) - black; dark
** kunnecup (クンネチュプ) - the Moon (literally, "Black Luminary")
** Kunashir (クナシリ) - Black (Is)land. Present day Kunashir Island.
* kur (クル) - shadow
* kur (クル) - person; man, husband (cf. Korpokkur)
* kut (クッ) - belt, girdle, waistband (explicitly possessed form クチ "kuci" or クチヒ "kucihi")
* Kutune-Shirka (クト゜ネシリカ) - name of a sacred Ainu epic [http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/ainu/kutune.htm]

M

* makiri (マキリ) - knife
* mame (マメ) - bean or pea, pulses, legumes
* mata （マタ） - winter (also known as the "men's season" for the fact that it is a good time of year for men to hunt for furs)
** mata-noski （マタノシキ） - midwinter
* mat (マッ) - wife; woman; [as prefix] female (explicitly possessed form マチ "maci" or マチヒ "macihi")
** matne (マッネ) - female
* matak (マタㇰ) - younger sister (from an elder sister's point of view)
** a-mataki (アマタキ) (Classical), ku-mataki (クマタキ) (Colloquial), ku-kor matak (クコロ　マタク) - my younger sister (said by an elder sister)
* matkaci (マッカチ) - girl
* matkarku (マッカㇻク) - niece
* mean (メアン) - (to be) cold (as the weather)
** meekot (メエコッ) - to freeze to death; to starve due to frigid weather
* mem (メム) - spring, pool, a place where clear water wells up
* menoko (メノコ) - woman
* mici (ミチ) - father (in some Ainu dialects, "mici" is formal and means something like "dead father" or "ancestor"; such dialects typically use "aca" in the regular meaning of "father")
* mina (ミナ) - to laugh
* mokor (モコロ) - to sleep
* mori (モリ) - small hill, hillock, slope (cf. Japanese "mori" "forest; [dial.] Shinto shrine, sacred grove, holy place; [dial.] hill")
* mosir (モシㇼ) - land; territory; island
* moyuk (モユク) - tanuki
* mukkuri (ムックリ) - traditional Ainu Jew's harp
* mun (ムン) - grass, weed, (useless) plant
* munin (ムニン) - rotten
* muy (ムイ) - winnow (cf. Japanese "mi" "winnow")

N

* nan (ナン) - face (explicitly possessed form "nanu" ナヌ or "nanuhu" ナヌフ)
** nanuwen (ナヌウェン) - ugly (literally, "its face is bad")
*** nanuwen-cep (ナヌウェンチェプ) - sea raven, shaggy sculpin, "Hemitripterus villosus"
* nanna (ナンナ) - mother ("nanna" was used in Sakhalin dialects; the variant "nonno" ノンノ was used by the Kuril Islands Ainu)
* nay (ナイ) - dale, valley (esp. one which has a stream or a marsh); stream, river
* ni （ニ） - tree; wood
** nitay (ニタイ) - woods, forest
* nis (ニシ) - sky, heaven, air; cloud
** niskur (ニシクル) - cloud
* nispa (ニㇱパ) - a wealthy person, a rich man, the rich; a gentleman, a lord, a master; an honorific title for a man, Mr.
* nonno (ノンノ) - flower
* noski (ノシキ) - middle, center (variants include "noske" ノシケ)
* not (ノッ) - chin; cape, promontory
* noto (ノト) - calm (of the sea, etc.), lull (dialectal variants include "neto" ネト)
* nupe （ヌペ） - tears
* nupek (ヌペク) - light (dialectal variants include "nipek" and "nikep"; explicitly possessed form "nupeki", "nipeki", "nikepihi", etc.)
* nupuri (ヌプリ) - mountain
* nusa （ヌサ） - a word that collectively describes an altar and the many "inaw" (a shaved stick used in an offertory ceremony) that decorate it

O

* ohaw （オハゥ） - "ohaw", Ainu-style stew
* oman (オマン) - ["sing."] to go
* omap （オマプ） - to love (one's child, etc.), to cherish, to hold dear (c.f. Japanese "omou", which means "to think (that), to consider, to feel; to recall, to recollect, to remember; to imagine, to think of, to think about; to worry (about), to care (about), to love")
* onkami (オンカミ) - worship/prayer/beseechment (cf. Japanese "ogami", which has the same meanings)
* ota (オタ) - sand; sandy plain, sandy place, beach

P

* para (パラ) - wide (cf. Sapporo, Paramushir, Toyohara (Toyopara), etc.)
* pasuy (パスイ) - chopsticks (cf. Japanese *"pasi" > "hashi" "chopsticks")
* paykar （パィカㇻ） - spring (season)
* pe (ペ) - water (especially that which is non-potable, not intended for drinking, or laden with much dissolved or suspended matter), moisture, sap, juice (explicitly possessed form "pehe" ペヘ)
* peko (ペコ) - cow, cattle (cf. べこ "beko" "cow, cattle" in various Japanese dialects)
* pene (ペネ) - thoroughly rotten, soft with decay, rotten and sticky or slimy
* pet　（ペッ） - river
* pi (ピ) - seed, kernel, pip; pebble (as on a riverbed), small stone (explicitly possessed form "piye" ピイェ or "piyehe" ピイェヘ)
* pinne (ピンネ) - male
* pirka （ピリカ） - good, nice, fine, beautiful
** pirka kur （ピリカクル） - a fine man (in the sense of "a good person, a virtuous person")
** pirka okkay (ピリカオッカィ） - a fine man (in the sense of "a handsome man, a good-looking man")
** pirka menoko （ピリカメノコ） - a beautiful woman, a fine young lady
** pirka pa （ピリカパ）- a good year
* pok (ポク) -
** pokna (ポクナ) - lower, under, below, beneath
* pok (ポク) - vulva, a female's private parts (explicitly possessed form "poki" or "pokihi")
* pon (ポン) - small, little
* pone (ポネ) - bone
* poro (ポロ) - big, large
* poru (ポル) - cave, hole (in rock, etc.)
* poyna (ポイナ) - rock, stone (esp. one that is large)
* pu （プ）- an elevated structure in which to store food and other valuables (the traditional Ainu equivalent of a shed or a warehouse)
* pukusa (プクサ) - a kind of wild plant that is prized by the Ainu for its pungent, garlic-like flavor (known in Japanese as "Ainu negi" "Ainu onion" or "gyōja ninniku" "wandering ascetic garlic")

R

* ram （ラム） - mind, heart (in the figurative sense), soul; understanding, intellect
* ramat (ラマッ) - soul, spirit; meaning (of a word, etc.) (explicitly possessed form "ramaci" ラマチ)
* ray (ライ) - to die
** cupray (チュプライ) - eclipse
** rayke (ライケ) - ["sing. obj."] to kill (one thing), to cause (a singular object) to die
* re (レ) - name (explicitly possessed form レヘ "rehe"）
* rera (レラ) - wind
* retar (レタラ) - white
* ri （リ） - high, tall, lofty
* repun (レプン) - in the offing, offshore, out in the sea (cf. Rebun Island)
** repunkamuy (レプンカムイ) - god of the sea; orca; (in Samani dialect) whale
* ruyanpe (ルヤンペ) - rain; [dial.] storm

* sak （サク） - summer (also known as the "women's season" for the fact that it is a good time of year for women to cultivate plants or to gather wild botanical resources)
* sampe (サンペ) - heart, cardiac organ
* san (サン) - to go down, to descend; to flow along (as a river)
** sanke (サンケ) - to send down, to cause to go down
* sapanpe (サパンペ) - men's ceremonial Ainu crown [http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/english/eng08.html]
* sar (サラ) - tail (explicitly possessed form "sara" サラ or "saraha" サラハ)
* sayo （サヨ） - "sayo", Ainu-style porridge
* seta (セタ) - dog (recent dialectal variants include "sita" シタ; early records of the Ainu language also contain other variant forms of this word for "dog," such as "sta", "heta", and "hida")
* sik (シク) - eye (explicitly possessed form "siki" or "sikihi")
* sikotan (シコタン）　－　Pleasant Village (present day Shikotan island)
* sinep (シネプ) - one (thing)
* sinrit (シンリッ) - root (of a tree, etc.); (ancestral) roots, bloodline, pedigree
* sippo (シッポ) - salt
* sir (シリ) - weather; appearance; status, condition
* sir (シリ) - land; island
** sir etok (シリ エトク) - the end of the Earth; the Shiretoko Peninsula
* sir (シリ) - mountain
* sisam (シサㇺ) - Japanese (or assimilated Ainus); (more generally) any foreigner, non-Ainus (cf. Nivkh /sezam/, /sizm/ "Japanese"; probably originally from Ainu "si-" "self (reflexive prefix)" + "sam" "near by, close to; side")
** hure-sisam (フレシサㇺ) - Russian; (more generally) European (from Ainu "hure" "red" + "sisam" "Japanese; foreigner")
* sitoki (シトキ) - glass-bead necklace with a medallion
* siw (シウ) - bitter
* siwnin (シウニン) - blue, green, yellow
* so (ソ) - waterfall, cascade
* soy (ソイ) - outside (also used as a postposition, e.g. "cise-soy" "outside of a house," "outside the house")
** soyta
** soyke
* suma (スマ) - stone
* sumari (シュマリ) - fox
* susam (スサム) - shishamo
* susu (スス) - willow

T

* takahka (タカッカ) - crab (Sakhalin Ainu)
* tamasay (タマサイ) - beaded necklace worn by women
* tanne (タンネ) - long
* tap (タプ) - shoulder, arm
* tek (テク) - hand, arm (explicitly possessed form "teke" or "tekihi")
* teyne (テイネ) - (to get) wet, damp
* tomari （トマリ）- Shelter (Tomari city in Aomori)
* tonkori (トンコリ) - traditional Sakhalin Ainu stringed instrument
* to (ト) - day
** tanto (タント) - today
* to (ト) - lake, pond, puddle
* tom (トム) - to shine, to sparkle, to twinkle
** tomte (トムテ) - to cause to shine
** tom tom (トムトム) - sparkling, twinkling, glowing, flashing
** tonnatara (トンナタラ) - brilliant, resplendent, shining
* tompi (トムピ) - light, brilliance, sparkle, glow
* top (トプ) - bamboo
* topa (トパ) - flock, herd (usually appears in the explicitly possessed form "topaha" トパハ "a flock of ~," "a herd of ~")
* toy （トィ） - earth, soil, dirt, mud (also occasionally reduplicated for expressive effect to produce "toytoy")
* tunakay (トゥナカイ) - reindeer (borrowed into Japanese as トナカイ "tonakai"; also cf. Nivkh "tlaŋi" 'reindeer')
* tukar (トゥカラ) - seal (i.e. a sort of marine Pinniped; also "tukkar", "tukoro", or "tokkari" in some dialects)
* tuki (トゥキ) - (drinking) glass, [esp.] a saké cup (cf. Japanese 杯 "sakazuki" "a vessel from which one drinks an alcoholic beverage," from Old Japanese "sake" "alcoholic beverage" + "tuki" "drinking vessel")
* tuntu (トゥントゥ) - pillar, column; post, stake
* tur (トゥル) - dirt, grime, filth
** turtur (トゥルトゥル) - dirt, grime, filth
** tursak (トゥルサク) - pure, clean, unsullied
* tus (トゥシ) - (a man's) concubine, (a woman's) fellow wife
* tusa (トゥサ) - to be cured, to heal up, to recover (from an illness)
** tusare (トゥサレ) - to cure, to heal
* tusir (トゥシリ) - grave, tomb; graveyard, cemetery

U

* umma (ウンマ) - horse (cf. Japanese うま "uma" "horse")
* upas （ウパㇱ） - snow
* utari (ウタリ) - friend/companion/compatriot; used by the Ainu to describe themselves; the politically correct term for the Ainu people.

W

* wakka (ワッカ) - water (especially that which is potable or clean) (cf. Wakkaus Kamuy, the goddess of fresh water)
* wen (ウェン) - bad; cruel; poor
** wenkur (ウェンクㇽ) - a pauper, a poor person
** wenpe (ウェンペ) - a bad one; a bad thing; a bad person, an evil person, a villain
** wenpekur (ウェンペクㇽ) - a bad person, an evil person, a villain

Y

* ya (ヤ) - net
* ya (ヤ) - land (as opposed to sea, river, etc.), shore, (river)bank
* yuk (ユク) - deer
* yam (ヤム) - cold (to the touch)
* yam (ヤム) - chestnut
* yup (ユプ) - older brother (explicitly possessed form "yupi" or "yupihi")
** yupo (ユポ) - older brother (dialectal variants include "yuppo" and "yuhpo"; probably from an earlier */yup-po/ < /yup/ "older brother" + /po/ "small; diminutive suffix")
* yukar (ユーカㇻ) - traditional Ainu sagas

References

Most of the content of this page was taken from the equivalent Japanese-language article, accessed March 27, 2006.

ee also

[http://www.raccoonbend.com/languages/ainuenglish.html Ainu-English Dictionary]