A Numeral Denoting ‘One’ in Ainu

Abstract

This paper attempts to show that in Ainu the number ‘one’ can be referred to by the proclitic ár which means ‘one of a pair’ (as-siki ← ar-siki ‘his eye’) or ‘half’ (ar-kewtemu ‘half of his heart’), and also functions as an intensifier (ar teynep ‘a true baby’). Although ár is qualified to be a numeral semantically, it has not been treated as such in traditional descriptions.

It is arguable that in general a numeral denoting ‘one’ can be derived from the concept of ‘a half of two’ and that a typical case of illustrating this process is observed in Ainu.