5. Where Things Go

What You’ll Learn

This lesson teaches five place endings:

• -las, into;
• -imris, out of or from;
• -itar, up or onto;
• -asam, down or onto;
• -esp, under or below.

The technical name is spatial case. In this book, call them place endings.

The “Into” Ending -las

The ending -las means movement inward or into something. The formal grammar calls it the illative.

branum gal-es rismater-las
PAST man-MAIN reed.boat-INTO
"The man entered the reed boat."

The boat is marked with -las because the motion goes into the boat.

The Five Place Endings

Ending	Plain meaning	Example	Beginner reading
-las	into	rismater-las	into the reed boat
-imris	from, out of	rismater-imris	from the reed boat
-itar	up, onto	rismater-itar	onto the reed boat
-asam	down, onto	rismater-asam	down from the reed boat
-esp	under, below	rismater-esp	under the reed boat

Place Endings Can Carry the Action

Early Hick can sometimes use a place ending where English would use a separate action word.

materok-es rismater-imris
handler-MAIN reed.boat-FROM
"The handler exits the reed boat."

There is no separate word for “exit” in the sentence. The -imris ending does the work.

Do not add the action ending -'er to a place ending in this pattern. The place ending is still a noun ending, not an action word. Some older fixed expressions later become action words, but this lesson uses the ordinary place-ending pattern.

Into a New State

The “into” idea can also mean changing into a new state.

kamar kel-es kakel-las
red sky-MAIN blue-INTO
"The red sky turns blue."

Think of the sky moving into blueness.

Try It

Choose the best English meaning for each word.

1. rismater-las
2. rismater-imris
3. rismater-itar
4. rismater-esp

Meanings: under the reed boat, into the reed boat, onto the reed boat, from the reed boat.

Pop quiz Answers

1. rismater-las: into the reed boat
2. rismater-imris: from the reed boat
3. rismater-itar: onto the reed boat
4. rismater-esp: under the reed boat

Reference Note

For the technical version, see Spatial Case System.