Ainu applicatives in typological perspective

This paper explores the polyfunctionality, grammaticalization, and typological relevance of applicatives in Ainu. Applicatives are derived by the valency-increasing prefixes which are generally defined here as instrumental e-, dative ko-, and locative o-. The referential range of the respective constructions stretches over several semantic roles and the exact role is attributed to the interaction between the semantics of the prefix and verb. The typologically unusual properties of Ainu applicatives include the ability of e- applicatives to add the roles of Theme and Content, the ability of the so-called unaccusative intransitives to host applicative prefixes e- and ko-, the possibility of e-ko- and ko-e- double applicatives, the absence of non-applicative paraphrases for some applicatives, and the possibility of applicative object incorporation.