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
• 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
• iomante (イオマンテ) - the Ainu bear festival
• 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 (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
• kotan (コタン) - village, settlement; dwelling place
• Kamuy-Kotan (カムイコタン) - 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

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

S

• 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
• 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.

See also

Ainu-English Dictionary