it is almost always isepo, though sometimes epetche. But among the Tokapchi Ainu kaikuma is also used. Once more, the pit-dwellers of Saghalien are called by those of their fellows who do not use pits (for some use pits even now during the cold winter months) by the name of Toichiseikotchaguru, “persons having earth dwellings;” while in Yezo the pits left by those of their ancestors who used them are known as koropok or choropok-un-guru koro chisel kot, “the house sites of those who lived in pits.” Every part of this last word is purely Ainu as also is toichiseikotchaguru; hence, for such like reasons we conclude that the language of Yezo and Saghalien is one.
There are of course many different words used by the Yezo and Saghalien Ainu whose origin one cannot always trace. Ibe-bashui, for example is Yezo Ainu for “chop-sticks,” really meaning “eating tongs”; but the Saghalien Ainu say sakkai, a word whose full meaning has yet to be determined. However, among the Yezo Ainu the words sakma and sakiri “a rail” or “pole” appear to carry the same root. In the North again arak is used for spiritus liquor, but in Yezo this word is known only to those Ainu who have been to Saghalien. It has probably come through Russia.
If a still clearer proof was needed to show that the Yezo Ainu were in early times connected with the Island of Saghalien it may be found in an examination and comparsion of the Place-names of the two Islands, for both are seen to be pure Ainu. Exception is of course taken with respect to such European names as C. Elisabeth; C. Maria; B. Espenberg; Bai d’ Estaing, and so forth. The following score of names are taken from C. W. Schebunin’s karte der Jnsel Sachalien oder Karapto (1868). Schebunin’s name is given first, then the present Ainu pronunciation, and after that the English meaning.
| Schebu. | Ainu. | English. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ekuroki | Ekurok-i | “Black place.” |
| 2. | Naiputzj | Nai-putchi | “The glen mouths.” |
| 3. | Naitscha | Nai-cha | “The glens” or “glen-side.” |
