8. Reading Practice

What You’ll Learn

This lesson reviews the whole beginner path:

• read word endings before guessing from word order;
• spot action words with -'er;
• read place endings as part of the meaning;
• use time words to place a sentence in past, far past, or future.

Practice 1: A Simple Action

'ales barak'er
person-MAIN walk-ACTION

Pop quiz Translation

“The person walks” or “The person is walking.”

Practice 2: Doer and Receiver

materok-el rismater-es ward'er
handler-DOER reed.boat-RECEIVER guide-ACTION

Pop quiz Translation

“The handler guides the reed boat.”

The ending -el marks the handler as the doer. The ending -es marks the reed boat as the receiver.

Practice 3: Into the Boat

branum gal-es rismater-las
PAST man-MAIN reed.boat-INTO

Pop quiz Translation

“The man entered the reed boat.”

The time word branum puts the sentence in the past. The place ending -las means “into.”

Practice 4: Finished Walking

branum 'ales barak'er tel
PAST person-MAIN walk-ACTION FINISHED

Pop quiz Translation

“The person had walked.”

The marker tel tells you the action is finished.

Practice 5: Color Change

kamar kel-es kakel-las
red sky-MAIN blue-INTO

Pop quiz Translation

“The red sky turns blue.”

The ending -las means “into,” so the sky moves into blueness.

From In-World Texts

These examples come from longer in-world Early Hick pieces. At this stage, do not try to explain every word. Practice spotting the pieces you already know.

Distant Past

From The Giant of Inespell:

branrum 'aterbran mator'alul branes
FAR.PAST before greater.tribe dawn

Pop quiz Reading

This line begins with branrum, the far-past word. A beginner translation is:

"In the distant past, before the dawn of the Greater Tribe."

Teaching and Learning

Also from The Giant of Inespell:

'ilisimris'er tamines 'isel
teach-ACTION forge-MAIN us

Pop quiz Reading

The action word is 'ilisimris'er, “teaches” or “taught.” In the poem, this line means:

"They taught us the forge."

Phrase Spotting

From ‘ir’erlas ‘ibrigralel eldegrales:

'ir'erlas 'ibrigralel eldegrales

Pop quiz What to spot

Even without a full translation, you can spot familiar endings:

1. -las, the “into” place ending;
2. -el, the doer ending;
3. -es, the main/receiver ending.

Try It

Translate these without opening the answers first.

1. mulsum 'ales barak'er
2. materok-es rismater-imris
3. kel-es kakel'er

Pop quiz Answers

1. “The person will walk.”
2. “The handler exits the reed boat” or “The handler moves from the reed boat.”
3. “The sky is blue.”

Reference Note

For more practice, compare these examples with the technical Core Grammar, Spatial Case System, and Syntax sections.