Gender is sometimes designated by a different word; as:—
| masculine. | feminine. |
|---|---|
| Acha, “uncle.” | Unarabe, “aunt.” |
| Ainu, “man.” | Mat-ainu, “a woman.” |
| Ona, “father.” | Unu, “mother.” |
| Shiuk, “a he bear.” | Kuchan, “a she-bear.” |
| Shion, “a little boy.” | Opere, “a little girl.” |
| Hekachi, “a lad.” | Matkachi, “a girl.” |
When an object has no special masculine or feminine form, as for instance Chikap, “a bird” (cock or hen), or seta, “dog” or “bitch,” and it should be necessary to specify to which sex it belongs, the words pinne,” “male,” and matne, “female,” “are placed before it; thus:—
| masculine. | feminine. |
|---|---|
| Pinne chikap, “a cock.” | Matne chikap, “a hen.” |
| Pinne seta, “a dog.” | Matne seta, “a bitch.” |
For human beings and gods, however, okkai or okkaiyo, “male,” take the place of pinne.
The number of the noun is, in the case of animals, generally indicated by the context or verb, and is therefore mostly left unexpressed by any addition to the noun. Thus, aiai, “baby” or “babies”; ainu, “man” or “men.” However, when it is necessary to express plurality utara, utare, or utari is used. e.g.
| singular | plural |
|---|---|
| Aiai, “a baby.” | Aiai-utara, “babies.” |
| Umma, “a horse.” | Umma utara, “horses.” |
| Ainu, “a man.” | Ainu utara, “men.” |
[The word utara is analyzed thus—u a plural prefix meaning “mutual”; tara, “appendages.” Hence utara is really “comrades.”]
