10. Answering Questions

What You’ll Learn

This lesson teaches beginner-safe ways to answer questions:

answer a “who, what, where” question with the missing word;
keep the same sentence role ending when the answer needs one;
answer a yes/no question with gnar, nar, mope, a full sentence, or a short echo;
use mo-, the “not” prefix, when you need to say exactly what is not true.

Answer the Missing Part

Some questions ask for a missing noun, person, place, time, or manner. In English class, these are often called “who, what, where, when, and how” questions.

Early Hick question words take the same kind of role endings as ordinary nouns. If the question asks for the receiver or main noun, the question word can take the main/receiver ending -es.

A short answer can give the missing receiver with the same ending:

A fuller answer repeats the whole sentence:

Answer Who Did It

If the question asks for the doer, the answer can use the doer ending -el.

Short answer:

The role ending matters because it tells the listener how the answer fits into the question.

Answer Yes or No

Early Hick can ask a yes/no question with 'aka thid, “is it true?”, or the shorter question word 'athid.

The short answer gnar means “yes” or “correct.” It is the ordinary answer when someone asks whether a statement is true.

gnar
yes
"Yes."

In familiar or quick speech, nar works more like English “yup” or “yeah.”

nar
yup
"Yup."

The safest beginner answer is a full sentence:

In quick speech, a short echo can answer by repeating the important sentence word:

Answer No

The default single-word answer for “no” is mope.

mope
no
"No."

mope answers the question. To say exactly what is not true, negate the word being denied. Use mo-, the “not” prefix.

Full negative answer:

Short negative echo:

A transparent answer like mo-gnar, “not correct,” is possible when the answer means “that is not right.”

For describing sentences, mo- comes before the ka- form:

Try It

Answer each question with a short answer.

What does the handler guide?
```
'aka-es materok-el ward'er?
```
Who guides the reed boat?
```
'alis-el rismater-es ward'er?
```
Does the person walk? Answer “no.”
```
'athid 'al-es barak'er?
```
Is the sky blue? Answer with the ordinary word for “yes.”
```
'athid kel-es kakel'er?
```

Pop quizAnswers

rismater-es
```
reed.boat-RECEIVER
"the reed boat"
```
materok-el
```
handler-DOER
"the handler"
```
mope
```
no
"No."
```
gnar
```
yes
"Yes."
```

Reference Note

For more in-depth information, see Interrogatives and Negation System.