Lesson 4 Dialogue

"What is your name?"

Girl: What's your name?Literally, "How is your name?"

Wife: My name is Maki.

Girl: Your name is very prettyLiterally, "good"..

Wife: Thank you.

Girl: Is that knife your knife?

Husband: It is mine.

Girl: May I pull outI.e., draw the knife from its sheath. the knife?

Husband: You mayLiterally, "It's okay"., but the tip is sharp so be careful not to cut your fingersp(e) ne (na) can be used for prohibitions/negative instructions..

Girl: Did you carve both the sheath and the hilt?

Husband: I didn't carve them.

Wife: I carved themThis is a subversion of expectations, because whittling/carving is traditionally a male role in Ainu culture..

Lesson 4 Vocabulary

Ainu	English
inep	4 (four)
re, rehe	name
mak, makanak	how? in what way?
makanak an?	what is? (for some intangible things such as names and prices. Literally means something more like "how is?")
sekor	quotation particle (follows a name, quote, thought, etc)
sonno	really
iyairaykere	thank you
tan	this (adjectival)
makiri	knife
etaye	to pull/draw [out]
korka	but
ipe, ipehe	blade (of a sword or knife)
een	to be sharp
askepet, askepeci, askepecihi	finger
tuye	to cut (singular)
kepuspe, kepuspehe	sheath, scabbard
nip, nipi, nipihi	handle/hilt (of a sword or knife)
nuye	to carve, to whittle
ki	to do
kani	I (first-person singular pronoun)