18 • Ainu’s Relation to Other Languages
abstract
Discuss: "How do we define a language family?". "What makes a language isolate?". "How is an isolate language different from an unclassified language and what makes a language so?". Consider the following six means scholars usually employ to advance their knowledge on isolate languages. Do you think they can be applied to Ainu? Which one(s) could be more effective than others and why? "Philological attestations and investigation, "Internal reconstruction", "Comparative reconstruction", "Loanwords", "Areal linguistics", "Wörten und Sachen".