siderable uniformity throughout the Island of Yezo, yet there are some slight differences to be noted in almost every village one passes through. These differences are not always so great as to justify one in calling them dialects, provincialisms would be a more appropriate name for them. As for dialects proper, we may say that there are about three spoken in Yezo, viz; the Saru, Usu and Tokapchi.[1] The Usu, Yurap, Mororan, and Ishikari Ainu (i.e. the Ainu of the Southern and Western coasts) only differ from those of the Saru district in that the former pronounce the words in full whilst the latter use certain contractions. The Tokapchi Ainu differ from all the rest both in the contraction of words and names of certain objects. The Apa-shiri, Akkesh, and Kushiro Ainu (i.e. the Ainu of the northern and north eastern coasts), though differing from their nearer neighbours, the Tokapchi people, speak very like those of Usu. However the grammer is the same, and when the Saru dialect is spoken but without the contraction of words, one is pretty well understood by all excepting the Tokapchi people, who sometimes miss the meaning.
A few differences in the words used by the northern and southern Ainu are as follows:—
| southern. | northern. |
|---|---|
| Aman-chikap, | Aman e-chiri, “a sparrow.” |
| Chikap, | Chiri, “a bird.” |
| Chup, | Tombe, “a luminary” (Tombe really means, “the shining thing.”) |
| K, | Ku, “I.” |
| Kek, | Ku ek, “I come.” |
| Koira, | Ku oira, “I forget.” |
| Koropok, | Choropok, “under,” “beneath.” |
| Paro, | Charo, “the mouth.” |
| Poi, po, | Pon, “little.” |
| Upaskuma, | Uchashkuma, “a lecture,” |
- ↑ It may be remarked here that the Saru Ainu confess to having originally come from Tokachi to Saru, while the Usu Ainu declare that their ancestors come from Saru. The Tokachi Ainu also say that they originaly came form Saghalien.
