Hick

Overview

The Hick language was the primary tongue of pre-Kalassarian Senera. While no longer spoken, it survives in place names, maritime terminology, and religious traditions throughout modern Senera.

Historical Development

Evidence from archaeological sites and preserved texts suggests three main periods:

Early Period (Pre-100 AI)

Purely oral tradition
Strong maritime focus
Nature-based terminology
Ritual language elements

Middle Period (100-300 AI)

First written forms
Maritime trade vocabulary expansion
Astronomical terminology development
Sacred site naming conventions

Late Period (300-466 AI)

Kalassarian influence begins
Administrative terminology adoption
Gradual decline in daily use
Preservation in place names

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Stops	p b		t d	k g	ʔ
Fricatives	f	θ	s		h
Nasals	m		n
Liquids			l r

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low	æ	a

Syllable Structure

Basic Pattern

(C)(C)V(C)(C)
Syllable boundaries follow sonority hierarchy
Stress typically falls on first syllable

Permitted Clusters

Initial Clusters

Type	Clusters
Common	/br-, dr-, tr-, kr-, fl-, pl-, kl-/
Sacred	/θr-/
Archaic	/gn-, kn-/

Final Clusters

Type	Clusters
Common	/-st, -sk, -sp/
Limited	/-ks, -ls, -rs/

Phonotactic Constraints

Complex onsets must follow rising sonority
Complex codas must follow falling sonority
Maximum two consonants in any cluster
No geminate consonants

Morphology

Directional Affixes

-aes [aes]: "outward movement, flow from"
-itar [i.tar]: "downward movement, falling"
-asam [a.sam]: "upward movement, rising"

Examples with 'ai' (water):

aitar [ai.tar]: "rain, falling water"; ai-itar; water-falling
aisam [ai.sam]: "geyser, rising water"; ai-asam; water-rising
aiaes [ai.aes]: "spring, outflowing water"; ai-aes; water-outward

Number Marking

ma- [ma]: "plural prefix"; Marks multiple instances of countable nouns; Undergoes vowel harmony with root

Examples:

makel [ma.kel]: "skies"; ma-kel; PL-sky
mator [ma.tor]: "peaks, heights"; ma-tor; PL-height

Compound Formation

Basic Rules

Root + Root combinations follow head-final pattern
Final liquids (/l/, /r/) drop before consonants
Final nasals (/m/, /n/) drop before consonants
Stress falls on first element

Examples:

thrakel [θra.kel]: "sacred sky" (sun); thral-kel → thrakel; sacred-sky
vakel [va.kel]: "spirit sky" (moon); val-kel → vakel; spirit-sky
bramaes [bram.aes]: "tidal outflow"; bram-aes → bramaes; tide-outward

Phonological Processes

Liquid deletion: /l, r/ → ∅ / _C
Nasal deletion: /m, n/ → ∅ / _C
Cluster simplification follows sonority hierarchy
Vowel length preserved in first element

Lexicon

Basic Roots

Natural Elements

ai [ai]: "water"
kel [kel]: "sky, ceiling"
gral [gral]: "earth, soil"
mal [mal]: "pool, still water"
bram [bram]: "tide, tidal water"
keth [keθ]: "sea, ocean"

Sacred Terms

thral [θral]: "sacred, ritual"
val [val]: "spirit, divine force"

Directional/Spatial

tor [tor]: "height, peak"
ward [ward]: "path, way"
thren [θren]: "watch, overlook"
nal [nal]: "flow, flowing"

Number System

Cardinal Numbers

sin [sin]: "one"
tir [tir]: "two"
thal [θal]: "three"
fen [fen]: "four"
pil [pil]: "five"
sek [sek]: "six"
pran [pran]: "seven"
kres [kres]: "eight"
sinkres [sin.kres]: "nine" (lit. "one-eight")
tirkres [tir.kres]: "ten" (lit. "two-eight")
keth [keθ]: "hundred"
thran [θran]: "thousand"

Celestial and Sacred Terms

thrakel [θra.kel]: "sacred sky"; thral-kel; sacred-sky; sun
vakel [va.kel]: "spirit sky"; val-kel; spirit-sky; moon
kethran [ke.θran]: "sky thousand"; kel-thran; sky-thousand; stars
thraltr [θral.tr]: "sacred height"; thral-tor; sacred-height; Mount Thraltr

Geographic Features

thrantorgral [θran.tor.gral]: "thousand stone peaks"; thran-tor-gral; thousand-height-earth; Modern: Ranterg Mountains
malthrek [mal.θrek]: "pool heights"; mal-threk; pool-height; Modern: Maltreks
kethren [keθ.ren]: "sea watch"; keth-thren; sea-watch; Modern: Kethren Hills

Water Features

bramaes [bram.aes]: "tidal outflow"; bram-aes; tide-outward; Modern: Brams River
thrannal [θran.nal]: "sacred flow"; thran-nal; sacred-flow; Modern: Thrannal River
kethreks [keθ.reks]: "sea reach"; keth-reks; sea-reach; Modern: Kethreks
malter [mal.ter]: "pool flow"; mal-ter; pool-flow; Modern: Malter River

Maritime Terms

keelswood [kel.swud]: "sky forest"; kel-wood; sky-forest; Modern: Keelswood
bramsward [bram.sward]: "tide path"; bram-ward; tide-path; Modern: Bramsward Way
wardcross [ward.kros]: "path crossing"; ward-cross; path-cross; Modern: Wardcross bridges

# Sound Changes

## Major Historical Changes

Based on place name evidence and comparative analysis with modern Seneran, we can 
identify several key sound changes:

### Early Seneran Period (0-500 AI)

1. Initial Consonant Clusters
   - /θr/ → /r/ / #_a
     - thrantorgral → rantorgral "thousand peaks"
     - thramal → ramal "flowing area"
   - /θr/ → /tr/ / #_{i,e}
     - thrikel → trikel "road network"
     - thren → tren "watch point"
   - /θr/ preserved in formal/sacred terms
     - thran-val [θran.val] "thousand-blessing"
     - thral-tor [θral.tor] "sacred peak"

2. Vowel Changes
   - /ae/ → /a/ in unstressed syllables
     - bramaes → bramas "tidal flow"
     - thramaes → thramas "sacred water"
   - /i/ → /e/ in compounds
     - innis-bél → innesbel "island mouth"
     - thrim-kel → tremkel "through-sky"

### Middle Seneran (500-1000 AI)

1. Final Syllable Weakening
   - Unstressed vowels → schwa
     - [ra.na.es] → [ra.nə.əs]
     - [in.nes.bel] → [in.nes.bəl]

2. Consonant Cluster Evolution
   - Schwa deletion after liquids before stops
     - [θral.tər] → [θraltr] "sacred peak"
     - [mal.kə] → [malk] "pool-place"
   - Preserved elsewhere
     - [in.nes.bəl] remains [in.nes.bəl]

### Late Seneran (1000+ AI)

1. Final Changes
   - Word-final schwa deletion
     - [ran.ter.gə] → [ran.terg]
     - [ma.lə] → [mal]
   - Final cluster simplification
     - [bra.məs] → [brams]
     - [in.nes.bəl] → [in.spell]

## Common Patterns

Evidence from place names shows consistent patterns:

<dl>
<dt>Initial [θr-]</dt>
<dd>Becomes [r-] before /a/</dd>
<dd>Becomes [tr-] before /i,e/</dd>
<dd>Preserved in sacred/formal terms</dd>
<dd>Examples: 
    thrantorgral → rantorg
    thrikel → trikel
    thran-val remains [θran.val]</dd>

<dt>Unstressed [-ae-]</dt>
<dd>Becomes [-a-]</dd>
<dd>Example: bramaes → bramas</dd>

<dt>Compound [-i-]</dt>
<dd>Becomes [-e-]</dd>
<dd>Example: innis-bél → innesbel</dd>
</dl>


# Cultural Context

## Maritime Terminology

The Hick language shows particular sophistication in maritime and astronomical
vocabulary, reflecting their seafaring culture. Key semantic fields include:

### Navigation Terms

- Tidal patterns
- Star positions
- Wind directions
- Current flows
- Harbor approaches

### Sacred Geography

- Mountain observatories
- River confluences
- Coastal shrines
- Sacred pools
- Forest sanctuaries

## Legacy

While the Hick language ceased to be widely spoken after the Kalassarian period,
its influence persists in:

- Place names
- Maritime terminology
- Religious vocabulary
- Astronomical terms
- Water management terminology

# See Also

- [Senera](@/locations/senera.md)
- [Brams River](@/locations/brams-river.md)
- [Ranterg Mountains](@/locations/ranterg-mountains.md)

Bastion Falls

Hick

Overview

Historical Development

Early Period (Pre-100 AI)

Middle Period (100-300 AI)

Late Period (300-466 AI)

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Syllable Structure

Basic Pattern

Permitted Clusters

Initial Clusters

Final Clusters

Phonotactic Constraints

Morphology

Directional Affixes

Examples with 'ai' (water):

Number Marking

Examples:

Compound Formation

Basic Rules

Examples:

Phonological Processes

Lexicon

Basic Roots

Natural Elements

Sacred Terms

Directional/Spatial

Number System

Cardinal Numbers

Celestial and Sacred Terms

Geographic Features

Water Features

Maritime Terms