HEBREW AND AINU.
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appended and compared as being very curious examples of verbal correspondence. They are, it goes without saying, already insufficient to prove either the Ainu to be the ten lost tribes, or their language to be Semitic. Indeed, I have already stated that I believe, speaking from a study of the construction of the grammar of the langage, that it is Aryan. Whether I am right or not others must judge later.
Hebrew and Ainu words compared.
| Heb. | English. | Ainu | English. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 Ani, | אֲנִי | I. | Ani[1] Káni Eáni Yáni |
I. You. |
| 2. | Anoki, | אֲנֹכִי | I. | Anokai Aokai |
I. You. |
| 3. | Av, | אָב | Father. | Abo, Habo, |
In some places “father” and in others “mother.” |
| [It should here be noted that in Ainu there is no v sound properly so called, the nearest approach to it being b or p. Po is often found suffixed to nouns of consanguinity, thus:—Iyapo, “father;” achapa, “uncle;” mitpo, “grandchild;” matnepo, “daughter;” yupo, “elder brother;” sapo, “elder sister;” tureshpo, “younger sister.” It is curious to remark also that the English word papa, “father,” is in Ainu, according to the law of letter changes, chacha, “uncle,” an “old man;” for in some districts pa always becames cha]. | |||||
| 4. | Akh, | אָח | Brother. | Ak, Aki, Akihi, |
Younger brother. |
- ↑ The a in the Ainu word ani is the substantive verb of existence. It therefore differs radically from the aleph in the Hebrew word. This fact is fully sufficies to prove that the similarity is only in sound and not in essence. Moreover, the Ainu a may never be used simply as an expletive while aleph may. (See Gesenius′ Hebew grammar page 61 par: 4 under ā′leph prosthetcum.)
