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Early Hick

Overview

Section titled “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.

A Kalassarian language grammatical sketch of Early and Middle Hick was unearthed, along with a lexicon was found in an unsealed room underneath the Admiralty’s Helm in Surrey-on-the-Brams. Details in this is a modern analysis of that sketch using modern linguistic methods.

Those who spoke Hick, did not call it such, as the term Hick was exonymic, and was given by the Kalassarians. The people of Senera called their language takutakal, which translates to “the people’s rhythm”. Despite the potential connection of the term to music however, the language does not exhibit tonality, like languages of peoples beyond Sarebia.

Early Hick shows an ergative-absolutive alignment with rich derivational morphology and a sophisticated spatial reference system. Core grammatical relations are marked through prefixes and suffixes, and these interact with its derivational morphology to form complex compounds.

A reconstruction of a hypothetical Proto-Hick exists, in an incomplete state.

Historical Development

Section titled “Historical Development”

Comparative analysis with other pre-Kalassarian languages in the Western Beteran region had wielded a linguistic theory that a number of Northern Apgarian languages, Apgarian Isles languages, and the languages of the Seneran Islands are related. The proposed Hickic language family purports that the similarity of word forms in these languages are more than just an instance of sprachbund phenomena, but rather that they are interrelated by common ancestry.

Proto-Hick Period

Section titled “Proto-Hick Period”

(See: Proto-Hick)

It is still highly contested where the Hickic language family diverges from the rest of the pre-Kalassarian languages of the region. The Proto-Hick period is thus far only tentatively reconstructed. This document, however documents the view that the Proto-Hick language was spoken somewhere in the Mayonnaise valleys of the northern portion of Central Apgar.

Proto-Maritime Hick Period

Section titled “Proto-Maritime Hick Period”

As the prehistoric Hickic people expanded westward, their relative distance from the Apgarian mainland began to affect their language. These island-bound cultures still maintained a close linguistic relationship with each other, but had started to diverge from those mainland languages. Languages that are said to derive from Proto-Maritime Hick are the extinct Raibonian, Sentimental, and Palman.

Some proposed sound changes from Proto-Hick to Proto-Maritime Hick are:

  1. Deletion of a liquid in proximity to a glottal fricative:

    h [liquid] => h \*/ \_
    - [liquid] h => \* h /\_

  2. Reduction of a liquid cluster ending with the alveolar lateral:

    [liquid] l => l \* / \_

  3. Change in compound formation phonotactics:

    1. Deletion of an initial vowel in the second element of a compound:

      @consonant @vowel => @consonant \* / \_ $$
      Then: $$ => \*
      Then: s {[fricative], [glide]} => s \* / \_
      Then: θ [stop] => θ \* / \_

    2. Deletion of the final nasal in the first element of a compound:

      [nasal] @consonant => @consonant \* / \_ $$
      Then: $$ => \*

  4. Reanalysis of initial ha to match changes with sacred terminology:

    ha => θə / $ _ {[stop !glottal], [fricative], [liquid], [glide]}
       Else: (
          haʔ => θ / $ _@vowel \<syl\> \<syl\>
          Then:
             l => r / $ θ @vowel \_
       )
    ha => θ / $_ \<syl\> \<syl\> Then: l => r / $ θ @vowel \_

  5. Devoicing of voiced glottal stops in unstressed syllables:

    [voiced glottal] => [unvoiced glottal] / $ \_ @vowel
    Then: [unvoiced glottal] => ʔ / $ \_ i # voiced glottals don't trigger animacy deletion
    Then: [unvoiced glottal] => ʔ / $ \_ a # voiced glottals don't trigger sacred θ

  6. Stress Shift to initial syllable:

    [primary] => [unstressed] / \_
    Then: [unstressed] => [primary] / $ \_

Proto-Seneran Hick Period

Section titled “Proto-Seneran Hick Period”

As some of the Maritime Hickic peoples have settled in Senera, the language further changed as they were not as accessible. The languages differentiated over time, and those Hickic languages spoken within the island remained more close. The various dialects of Hick spoken in the Seneran Islands are believed to derive from Proto-Seneran Hick.

Sound changes from Proto-Maritime Hick to Proto-Seneran Hick are:

  1. Unstressed Vowel Reduction:

    [+high +front] => i / [unstressed] \_
    [+high +back] => u / [unstressed] \_
    [+low] => ə / [unstressed] \_

  2. Fronting of vowels in stressed initial syllables after fricative onsets

    {ə, e} => i / $ [fricative] \_

  3. Final Vowel Lowering

    [+high +back] => [-high +mid -back +central] / \_ $
    [+mid +front] => [-low -front +central] / \_ $

Pre-Hick Period (before ~1000 PF)

Section titled “Pre-Hick Period (before ~1000 PF)”

Research validated some of the Kalassarian language sketches of a number of primary Early Hick dialects, and this reconstruction relates these dialects with a number of sound changes to the primary dialect spoken in Central and Eastern Senera::

  1. Initial glottal fricative deletion:

    [unvoiced glottal fricative] => \* / $ \_ @vowel&![+high]

  2. Initial glottal stop deletion:

    [unvoiced glottal stop] => \* / $ \_ @vowel

  3. Initial hi reduces to glottal stop, common in animacy-marked compounds:

    hi => ʔ / $ \_ {[+high], @consonant&![glottal stop]}
    Else: hi => ʔ / $ \_ [glottal stop]
    Else: hi => ʔ / $ \_ @vowel

  4. Metathesis of dental fricatives:

    θ @vowel => θ \* / $ \_ r @vowel // \_ <syl> $

  5. Vowel coalescence:

    @vowel {h} => @vowel \* / $ \_ @vowel $
    @vowel @vowel => @vowel \* / $ \_ @consonant
    {w} @vowel => \* @vowel / [nasal] \_ @consonant $
    {w} ə => \* ə / \_ @consonant $

  6. Metathesis of complex clusters:

    @vowel$1 @consonant$2 => $2 $1 / $ \_ @finalcluster

  7. First syllable syncope:

    {p,b,k,t,s,θ} @vowel => {p,b,k,t,s,θ} \* / $ \_ {k,t,n,r} <syl> // \_
      @consonant <syl> @consonant

  8. Back vowel reduction after velar stop:

    [+back] => \* / $ [velar stop] \_ [nasal]

Early Hick (~1000 PF onward)

Section titled “Early Hick (~1000 PF onward)”
  • Astronomical terminology development
  • Sacred site naming conventions formalize
  • Initial written forms appear (borrowed script)
  • Borrowed terms from lambe

  1. Glottal Devoicing:

    [voiced glottal] => [unvoiced glottal] / $ \_ @vowel
    Then: [unvoiced glottal] => ʔ / $ \_ i # voiced glottals don't trigger
       animacy deletion
    Then: [unvoiced glottal] => ʔ / $ \_ a # voiced glottals don't trigger sacred
       θ

  2. Cluster Resolution from schwa nucleus deletion:

    {b,t,θ,k}$1 a r => $1 r a / \_ {s,t,k}
    ə => \* / r _@consonant <syl> // {b,t,k} r_ @consonant <syl>
    ə => \* / @consonant \_ @consonant r

  3. Final Vowel Transposition:

    {p,b,k,t,θ}$1 {r,n,t,k}$2 ə => $1 ə $2 / _ $
    Then: ə => a / _ [fricative] $
    Then: ə => e / [stop] \_ @consonant

  4. Final Vowel Reduction:

    h ə => \* ə / _$ // $_ $
    ə => \* / _$ // $_ $

Middle Hick (300 PF to 105 AI)

Section titled “Middle Hick (300 PF to 105 AI)”
  • More consistent contact with pre-Kalassarian traders
  • Maritime trade vocabulary expansion

Late Hick/Early Seneran (105 AI to 400 AI)

Section titled “Late Hick/Early Seneran (105 AI to 400 AI)”
  • Kalassarian settlement period begins
  • Administrative terminology adoption
  • Initial sound changes:
    • Unstressed vowel reduction begins
    • Compound simplification starts
    • Some liquid deletion word-internally

Middle Seneran (400 AI to 900 AI)

Section titled “Middle Seneran (400 AI to 900 AI)”
  • Major sound changes:
    • Full unstressed vowel reduction
    • Resyllabification for CV preference
    • Systematic liquid/nasal deletion
    • Stress-related vowel lengthening
  • Example: [in.nes.bel] → [i.ne.spel]

Modern Seneran (900 AI to present)

Section titled “Modern Seneran (900 AI to present)”
  • Extensive contact with Apgarian kingdoms
  • Final changes:
    • Complete syllable restructuring
    • Final cluster simplification
    • Vowel length phonemicization
  • Example: [i.ne.spel] → [ine.spell]

Proto-Hick Reconstruction

Section titled “Proto-Hick Reconstruction”

See: Proto-Hick

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Early Hick shows a relatively conservative phonological system inherited from Proto-Hick, with significant changes occurring mainly in compound formation and unstressed syllables. See: Historical Development

Segmental Inventory

Section titled “Segmental Inventory”

Consonants

Section titled “Consonants”
LabialDentalAlveolarVelarGlottal
Stopsp bt dk g’
Fricativesf vθsh
Nasalsmn
Liquidsl r
Glidesw

Note: The glottal stop is written as <’> in phonemic transcription and [ʔ] in phonetic transcription.

Examples:

  • /‘al/ [ʔal] “person”
  • /‘el/ [ʔel] “speaker”

Vowels

Section titled “Vowels”
FrontCentralBack
Highiu
Mideəo
Lowæa

See: Vowel Allophony for positional variants

Phonotactics

Section titled “Phonotactics”

Syllable Structure

Section titled “Syllable Structure”
  • Basic Pattern: (C)(C)V(C)(C)
  • Special Pattern: (C)(C)VV for permitted diphthongs
  • Stress: Initial syllable unless marked

Consonant Clusters

Section titled “Consonant Clusters”

Initial Clusters

Section titled “Initial Clusters”
TypeClustersExamples
Common/br-, dr-, tr-, kr-, fl-, pl-, kl-/bram, dren, tral
Sacred/θr-/thral, thren
Archaic/gn-, kn-/gnal, knes

Final Clusters

Section titled “Final Clusters”
TypeClustersExamples
Common/-st, -sk, -sp/mest, risk, lisp
Limited/-ks, -ls, -rs/teks, mals, tors

Vowel Sequences

Section titled “Vowel Sequences”

  1. Permitted Diphthongs:

    • Within morphemes: /ai/, /ei/
    • At morpheme boundaries:
      • /ei-ae/ → [ei]
      • /ai-ae/ → [ae]
    • No three-vowel sequences

  2. Examples:

    • /kei-las/ → [ke.es] “sky flow”
    • /thrai-las/ → [thraes] “sacred flow”
    • /brai-las/ → [braes] “swift flow”

Weight Distribution Constraints

Section titled “Weight Distribution Constraints”

  1. Stress Patterns

    • Primary stress falls on first syllable of simple words
    • In compounds:
      • a. First element maintains primary stress
      • b. Second element reduces unless sacred/ritual term
      • c. Three-element compounds:
        • Primary stress on first element
        • Secondary stress on final element
        • Middle element reduces
    • Exceptions:
      • Sacred/ritual terms resist reduction
      • Maritime terms maintain second element weight
      • Recent compounds may preserve full weight
      • Morphological boundaries may preserve weight

    Examples:

    • tor-mal → [ˈto.məl] “great pool”
    • thral-kel → [ˈθral.kel] “sacred sky” (no reduction - sacred term)
    • tor-ma-ter → [ˈtor.mə.ˌter] “great-pool-flow”
    • bram-ma-ter → [ˈbram.ma.ˌter] “tide-vessel” (no reduction - maritime)

Prosodic System

Section titled “Prosodic System”

Stress Patterns

Section titled “Stress Patterns”
  1. Primary Stress
    • Falls on first syllable of root in isolation
    • Maintained in prefixation: ma-tor → [ˈma.tor]
    • Shifts in compounds: tor-mal → [tor.ˈmal]
  2. Secondary Stress
    • In three-syllable compounds: tor-ma-ter → [ˈtor.mə.ˌter]
    • In prefix chains: ma-ka-tor → [ˈma.kə.ˌtor]
  3. Stress-Related Changes
    • Unstressed /a/ → [ə]
    • Stressed vowels resist reduction
    • Compound stress affects vowel quality

Compound Phonology

Section titled “Compound Phonology”

Sound Changes in Compounds

Section titled “Sound Changes in Compounds”

  1. Liquid Deletion

    • tor-mal → tomal “lake”
    • val-mal → vamal “spirit pool”
    • thral-gral → thragral “sacred earth”

  2. Nasal Deletion

    • bram-mal → bramal “tidal pool”
    • bran-kel → brakel “morning sky”

  3. Vowel Coalescence

    • kei-las → kees “sky flow”
    • thrai-las → thraes “sacred flow”

Compound Types

Section titled “Compound Types”

  1. Element + Element

    • kur-tin → kurtin “bronze” (copper-tin)
    • mal-ter → mater “stream” (pool-flow)

  2. Descriptor + Element

    • gra-kur → grakur “grey copper”
    • tor-mal → tomal “great pool”

Allophonic Rules

Section titled “Allophonic Rules”

Vowel Allophony

Section titled “Vowel Allophony”

The vowel /a/ surfaces as [ə]:

  1. After sibilants and affricates:

    • /sak/ → [sək] “wolf”
    • /sal/ → [səl] “stone”

  2. After voiceless stops in unstressed syllables:

    • /karan/ → [kərən] “stream”
    • /tamal/ → [təmal] “pool-like”

  3. In grammatical prefixes:

    • /ka-/ → [kə-] (similarity prefix)
    • /ma-/ → [mə-] (plural prefix)

  4. Between identical consonants:

    • /malam/ → [məlam] “pooled”
    • /ranar/ → [rənər] “flowing”

Stress-Dependent Reduction

Section titled “Stress-Dependent Reduction”

  1. In Compounds:

    • First element maintains stress: ‘tor-mal → [‘tor.məl]
    • Second element reduced: mal-‘ter → [məl.‘ter]

  2. With Prefixes:

    • Stressed prefix blocks reduction: ‘ma-tor → [‘ma.tor]
    • Unstressed prefix shows reduction: ka-‘tor → [kə.‘tor]

  3. In Three-syllable Words:

    • Primary stress blocks reduction: ‘ka-ra-nal → [‘ka.rə.nəl]
    • Secondary stress partially blocks: ˌka-‘ra-nal → [ˌka.‘ra.nəl]

Exceptions

Section titled “Exceptions”
  • Maintains [a] in:

Consonant Allophony

Section titled “Consonant Allophony”

[Section to be added]

Historical Sound Changes

Section titled “Historical Sound Changes”

See: Historical Development for chronological stages

Core Grammar

Section titled “Core Grammar”

Ergative-Absolutive Alignment

Section titled “Ergative-Absolutive Alignment”
  • -el [el] (ERG): marks agent of transitive verbs
  • -es [es] (ABS): marks patient of transitive & sole argument of intransitive

Early Hick can be described as a language with an ergative-absolutive alignment. Languages with this alignment treat the “subject” of an intransitive verb like the “object” of a transitive verb. This “object” or “patient” referent is marked with the absolutive case marker -es. The “subject” or “agent” referent is marked with the ergative case marker -el.

materokel 'al-es venitar
handler-ERG person-ABS burden.SUP
"The handler carries the person"

In the above example, the handler materok is the agent of the verb “to carry” and is marked with the ergative case marker -el. The person ‘al is the patient of the verb and is marked with the absolutive case marker -es.

'ales barak'er
person-ABS walk-VERB
"The person walks"

The single argument of the intransitive verb barak’er is the one performing the action, but because Early Hick is an ergative-absolutive language, the absolutive case marker -es is used to mark the referent.

Development of the Ergative Case Marking -el

Section titled “Development of the Ergative Case Marking -el”

The Early Hick ergative marker -el derives from Proto-Hick *mela through parallel but distinct development from the definite article:

  1. Sound Changes:

    • *mela > *mel (final vowel loss)
    • *mel > -el (initial m-loss in unstressed position)

  2. Functional Development:

    • Original meaning: definite animate marker
    • Intermediate stage: marks definite agents
    • Final stage: general ergative marker

Verbal System

Section titled “Verbal System”

See: Verbal Morphology for details on:

Early Hick has no true verb class. Verbs are formed from nouns and property concepts and are marked with the verbalizer affix -‘er.

'al'isel ven'er 'ales
person.PROX.ERG yoke.VERB person.ABS
this person carries a person
I am carrying a person

The above example shows the word ven that means yoke or burden with the verbalizer -er affixed to it. It then acts as the verb of the sentence that means “to carry”.

While some words, such as barak “walk”, semantically denote actions, the verbalizer affix -‘er is still applied in most instances.

'ales barak'er
person-ABS walk-VERB
"The person walks."

Spatial Case System

Section titled “Spatial Case System”

(See: Spatial Case System

Early Hick uses case marking to modify a word to indicate the direction an action is performed.

The spatial cases are:

  • -las (ILL): “inward, into”
  • -imris (ELL): “outward, from”
  • -itar (SUPE): “upward, upon”
  • -esp (SUB): “under, below”
  • -asam (SUBE): “downward, onto”

These spatial cases are typically appended to verbal words to indicate the direction an action is performed. When used with transitive verbs, the spatial cases indicate the direction of the action done by the agent, in relation to the patient.

branum galel belaes rismateres
PAST man-ERG entrance-ILL reed boat-ABS
The man inward-entrance the reed boat.
The man entered the reed boat.

The above example shows the man gal entering the boat rismater. There is another way to express this sentence using the spatial case marker, removing the explicit verbal word bel “entrance”.

branum gales rismater-las
PAST man-ABS reed boat-ILL
The man entered the reed boat.

Since the man is moving inward, into the reed boat, and there is no reason to specify that the man entered through the entrance, the spatial case marker -las may be appended to rismater to indicate that the man entered the boat.

Temporal System

Section titled “Temporal System”

Tense Marking

Section titled “Tense Marking”

See: Clause Structure and Word Order

The basic temporal markers are added to the beginning of a clause to indicate the time of the action.

Tense MarkerMeaning
branumpast
branrumfar past
mulsumfuture
branum 'ales venitar
PAST person-ABS yoke-SUPE
PAST person lift
"The person lifted."
branrum 'ales venitar
FAR PAST person-ABS yoke-SUPE
FAR PAST person lifted
"The person lifted long ago."
mulsum 'ales venitar
FUT person-ABS yoke-SUPE
"The person will lift."

Conjunctions

Section titled “Conjunctions”

Conjunctions

Section titled “Conjunctions”

Early Hick has several conjunctions for connecting elements:

  • ru [ru] “and” - general coordinator
  • ewes [e.wes] “together with” - marks shared/joint actions
  • ‘aterbran [ʔa.ter.bran] “before” - temporal sequence
  • ‘aterimris [ʔa.te.rim.ris] “after” - temporal sequence
  • imris [im.ris] “because” - causal relationships

For detailed discussion of conjunction types and usage, see: Syntax: Conjunctions

Morphology

Section titled “Morphology”

Nominal Morphology

Section titled “Nominal Morphology”

Agentive Marking

Section titled “Agentive Marking”
  1. Primary Marker
    • -ok [ok]: agentive nominalizer (forms agent nouns, both occupational and active) Examples:
    • materok “boatman” < mater-ok “vessel-AGENT” (one who works with vessels)
    • wardok “guide” < ward-ok “direct-AGENT” (one who directs)
    • threnok “watcher” < thren-ok “watch-AGENT” (one who watches)

Size and Intensity Markers

Section titled “Size and Intensity Markers”

  1. Diminutive (li-)

    • Prefix meaning “small, lesser”
    • Examples:
      • limal [li.mal] “small pool, pond”
      • liren [li.ren] “small deer, fawn”
      • lines [li.nes] “small fish, minnow”

  2. Augmentative (tor-)

    • Prefix meaning “great, mighty” (from “height, peak”)
    • Examples:
      • tornes [tor.nes] “great fish, whale”
      • topel [to.pel] “great bear” (tor-pel → topel, liquid deletion)
      • tomal [to.mal] “great pool, - lake” (tor-mal → tomal, liquid deletion)

  3. mentative (tor- -sim)

    • Circumfix combining the argumentative tor- with the translative -sim to mean a swift change in speed of the action

Number Marking

Section titled “Number Marking”

Early Hick has five strategies for marking number:

  1. Plural Prefix ma-

    • Indicates general plurality
    • ma-mater “boats”

  2. Universal Prefix masin- (< Proto-Hick *masinu “complete”)

    • Indicates totality/universality (“all”, “every”)
    • masin-mater “all boats”
    • masin-‘al “everyone” (all people)
    • masin-ter “everything” (all things)

  3. Partitive Prefix ran- (< *haranu “divide”)

    • Indicates “some of” or “part of”
    • ran-mater “some boats”
    • Can develop limiter meaning in context

  4. Numerical Marking with ran-

    • Links numbers to nouns
    • thal-ran-mater “three boats”
    • pil-ran-natlas “five friends”

  5. Ordinal Marking with -ter

    • Forms ordinals from cardinal numbers:
      • sin → sinter “first”
      • tir → tirter “second”
      • thal → thalter “third”

    Can be used in two ways: a. As adjectival/adverbial modifier with ka- prefix:

    kasinter 'ir'er
    first mover
    "first one to move"

    b. As a prefix in number marking position:

    thaltermateres matir'er
    third-ship sail-VERB
    "third ship to sail"

  6. Fractional Marking with ran- The partitive prefix ran- can also mark fractions when used with numbers:

    tirranrakter
    two-PART-league
    "half-league" (league divided in two)
    

    sinranvinuram
    three-PART-yard
    "third of a yard" (yard divided in three)

    Note that this creates ambiguity with numerical marking, as number-ran-noun can mean either “X number of nouns” or “1/X of a noun” depending on context:

    tirranlis
    two-PART-child
    "two children" (numerical marking)
    

    tirranrakter
    two-PART-league
    "half-league" (fractional marking)

    The interpretation depends on:

    • Whether the noun can be meaningfully divided
    • The pragmatic context (counting vs measuring)
    • The register (technical vs general usage)

    This ambiguity becomes particularly relevant in measurement and trade contexts, where both counting and dividing are common.

  7. Exclusivity Marking telran-

    The partitive prefix ran- can combine with tel- to form telran-, marking exclusivity:

    These markers are mutually exclusive in the same position class: (NEG)-(ADJ)-(PLURAL/PART/NUM-PART)-(SIZE)-ROOT

    telran-materok
    EXCL.PART-handler
    "only the handlers" (specifically excluding non-handlers)
    ran-materok
    PART-handler
    "some handlers" (neutral partitive)

    contrasting with the neutral partitive which simply indicates a subset. This distinction is particularly useful in:

    • Social group identification
    • Professional designations
    • Ritual contexts

Adjectival Marking

Section titled “Adjectival Marking”

From its Proto-Hick root *kasu, with the sense of reflection upon a mirror-like surface, the prefix ka- was initially used to denote similarity. Over time, it had applied to a wide range of concepts, becoming a general adjectivizer.

  1. Similarity Prefix (ka-)

    • Prefix meaning “like, similar to”
    • Always surfaces as [kə-] due to regular vowel reduction
    • Examples:
      • ka-tor [kə.tor] “hill-like” (smaller than a mountain)
      • ka-mal [kə.mal] “pond-like” (smaller than a lake)
      • ka-bram [kə.bram] “tide-like” (rhythmic movement)
      • Natural Features: kətor “hill-like”, kəmal “pond-like”
      • Animals: kəpel “bear-like”, kəmer “bird-like”
      • Body Parts: kəbel “mouth-like”, kəven “wing-like”
      • Weather: kəbran “storm-like”, kəthral “mist-like”
      • Water Movement: kəran “stream-like”, kəthrim “wave-like”
      • Plant Growth: kəthir “grass-like”, kəbel “vine-like”
      • Sounds: kəmer “bird-like (sound)”, kəsak “wolf-like (howl)”

  2. Adjectival Suffix (ka-)

    • Extended beyond just similarity, it has since been used to derive more metaphorically related concepts beyond a comparative sense. such as:
      • kasul [ka.sul] “energetic” < ka-sul “liver-like”
      • kames [ka.mes] “emotional” < ka-mes “heart-like”

  3. Use with Translative -sim When ka- prefixed forms take the translative suffix -sim, they indicate becoming like the base noun:

    a. Intransitive use (spontaneous change):

    mes-es kames-sim
    heart-ABS heart.like-TRANS
    "The heart becomes emotional" (lit. "becomes heart-like")

    b. Transitive use (caused change):

    sibris-el mes-es kames-sim
    love-ERG heart-ABS heart.like-TRANS
    "Love makes the heart emotional" (lit. "love makes heart become heart-like")
    

    'al-el sul-es kasul-sim
    person-ERG liver-ABS liver.like-TRANS
    "The person energizes the liver" (lit. "person makes liver become liver-like")

    Note: In transitive uses, the ergative marks the agent causing the change, while the absolutive marks what undergoes the change. See also: Object Control Constructions for extended use in expressing commands.

Adjective Ordering

Section titled “Adjective Ordering”

Multiple ka- adjectives follow this order:

  1. Quality/Evaluation (ka-‘il “good-like”, ka-thral “sacred-like”)
  2. Purpose/Association (ka-keth “sea-like”, ka-tag “craft-like”)
  3. Material Nature (ka-wud “wood-like”, ka-sul “flesh-like”)
  4. Physical Property (ka-mal “round-like”, ka-ris “straight-like”)

Natural Pattern

Section titled “Natural Pattern”

The original and common spoken pattern is direct stacking:

ka-‘il ka-keth ka-wud ka-mal mater-es ADJ-good ADJ-sea ADJ-wood ADJ-round boat-ABS “good sea-worthy wooden round boat”

Literary Style

Section titled “Literary Style”

After the introduction of Elven writing (c. 800 PF), a formal coordinated style developed based on the “o…ru” nominal coordination pattern:

‘il o keth o wud o mal ka-es mater-es good PART sea PART wood PART round ADJ-ABS boat-ABS “good and sea-worthy and wooden and round boat”

This literary innovation appears primarily in written texts and formal speech.

Demonstrative System

Section titled “Demonstrative System”
  1. Visible/Known, Proximal
    • -is [is] “this” (inanimate)
    • -ʔis [ʔis] “this” (animate)
  2. Visible/Known, Medial
    • -en [en] “that” (inanimate)
    • -tan [tan] “that” (animate)
  3. Hidden but Sensed, Medial
    • -eth [eθ] “that” (inanimate)
    • -thir [θir] “that” (animate)
  4. Distant/Out of Sight
    • -um [um] “that over there” (inanimate)
    • -rum [rum] “that over there” (animate)

Personal Reference

Section titled “Personal Reference”
  1. Spatial Demonstratives
    • istal “this.place-person” (speaker’s location)
    • etal “that.place-person” (addressee’s location)
    • utal “far.place-person” (third party location)

Negation System

Section titled “Negation System”
  1. Basic Negation
    • mo- [mo]: general negation prefix Examples:
      • mo-thral “non-sacred, profane”
      • mo-ter “not flowing, stagnant”
      • mo-ward “misdirect, lead astray”

Possession Marking

Section titled “Possession Marking”

The possessive suffix -ul marks ownership and possession relationships:

  1. Structure

    • Suffix -ul attaches to possessor noun
    • Possessed noun follows directly
    • No additional marking on possessed noun
    materok-ul rismater
    handler-POSS boat
    "the handler's boat"

  2. Semantic Range

    • Physical possession (“X’s Y”)
    • Ownership (“belonging to X”)
    • Abstract possession (“X’s qualities”)
    • Kinship (“X’s relative”)

Verbal Morphology

Section titled “Verbal Morphology”

Verbalizer

Section titled “Verbalizer”
  • -‘er [‘er]: creates verbs from nouns and property concepts
  • If -‘er is preceded by a plosive, it surfaces as [er]
mulis-'er [mulis.ʔer] "dreaminɡ"
tak-er [tak.er] "strike"

Active verbs (from action/motion concepts)

Section titled “Active verbs (from action/motion concepts)”
ai-es ter-'er
water-ABS flow-VERB
"Water flows"


materok-el 'al-es ward-'er
handler-ERG person-ABS guide-VERB
"The handler guides the person"

Examples:

Stative verbs (from property concepts)

Section titled “Stative verbs (from property concepts)”

Stative verbs are formed from property concepts using the verbalizer -ʔer. In order to disambiguate from active verbs, in most cases, the adjectivizer prefix ka- is prepended to the verb.

tor-thir-es kathral-'er
peak-KNOWN.ANIM-ABS ADJ-sacred-VERB
"The known peak is sacred"


kel-es ka-mar-'er
sky-ABS ADJ-red-VERB
"The sky is red"

Examples:

  • thral-‘er “to be sacred” (See: Sacred Terms)
  • mar-‘er “to be red” (See: Colors)

Note: Interpretation depends on base word semantics:

  • Action/motion roots → active verbs (ter “flow”, ward “guide”)
  • Property roots → stative verbs (thral “sacred”) (See: Basic Terms)

Mood

Section titled “Mood”

Early Hick marks certain modal meanings through verbal suffixes. For syntactic modal constructions, see: Syntactic Mood

Volitional Marker -‘arm

Section titled “Volitional Marker -‘arm”

The volitional suffix -arm (< Proto-Hick *harmu “willing”) marks intention or willingness. Like other modal suffixes, it replaces the verbalizer -‘er:

# Intransitive
'al'ises wardarm
person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS-ABS guide.VOL
"I am willing to guide"


# Transitive
'al'isel threnarm tores
person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS-ERG watch.VOL mountain.ABS
"I am willing to watch the mountain"

Common forms:

  • ward’er → wardarm “willing to guide”
  • thren’er → threnarm “willing to watch”
  • tak’er → takarm “willing to strike”

Note: The volitional often appears in ritual contexts and formal pledges, suggesting its historical connection to expressions of sacred duty or obligation. See also: Sacred Terms

Desiderative Marker -nat

Section titled “Desiderative Marker -nat”

The desiderative suffix -nat (< Proto-Hick *gnar-ter “correct-flow”) marks desire or intention. It replaces the verbalizer -‘er and preserves the transitivity of the base verb:

  1. With intransitive verbs:

    'al'ises imerespnat
    person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS-ABS sleep.DES.VERB
    "I want to sleep"

    The sole argument takes absolutive case as expected for S arguments.

  2. With transitive verbs:

    'al'isel hilisnat 'altales
    person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS-ERG look.DES.VERB person.DEM.MED.VIS.ANIM-ABS
    "I want to see you"

    Both A and P arguments maintain regular ergative-absolutive marking.

This construction shows Early Hick’s consistent syntactic ergativity, handling desires through morphological means rather than control syntax.

Spatial Case System

Section titled “Spatial Case System”

Early Hick’s spatial case system interacts closely with verbal semantics, marking not only physical direction but also abstract state changes and causation.

  1. Basic Spatial Cases

    • -las (ILL): “inward, into”
    • -imris (ELL): “outward, from”
    • -itar (SUPE): “upward, upon”
    • -asam (SUBE): “downward, onto”
    • -esp (SUB): “under, below”

  2. Directional Usage

    materok-el rismater-las
    handler-ERG reed.boat-ILL
    "The handler enters the reed boat"
    

    materok-el rismater-imris
    handler-ERG reed.boat-ELL
    "The handler exits the reed boat"
    

    materok-el rismater-itar
    handler-ERG reed.boat-SUPE
    "The handler climbs onto the reed boat"
    

    materok-el rismater-asam
    handler-ERG reed.boat-SUBE
    "The handler climbs down from the reed boat"

  3. Change of State

    kamar kel-es kakel-las
    red sky-ABS blue-ILL
    "red sky turns blue"

  4. Syntactic Properties

    • Supplants ergative case in motion contexts
    • Can be fronted for emphasis
    • Implies motion/change without overt verb
    • Interacts with causative constructions

Adjectival Morphology

Section titled “Adjectival Morphology”

Early Hick has no true adjective class. Quality concepts are expressed through:

  1. Stative Verbs (See: Verbal Morphology)

    • Uses verbalizer -ʔer
    • Takes absolutive argument Examples:
    kel-es kakel-ʔer
    sky-ABS blue-VERB
    "The sky is blue"
    

    thral-el kel-es kakel-ʔer
    ritual-ERG sky-ABS blue-VERB
    "The ritual makes the sky blue"

  2. Change of State

    1. Translative (-sim):

      kel-es kakel-sim
      sky.ABS blue.TRANS
      "sky becomes blue"

    2. Directional Cases (-las/-imris):

      kamar kel-es kakel-las
      red sky-ABS blue-ILL
      "red sky turns blue"

  3. Notes:

    • No attributive modification
    • All qualities are verbal predicates
    • Follows ergative-absolutive alignment
    • Causatives marked by adding ergative agent

Color Terms

Section titled “Color Terms”

Early Hick forms color terms through two strategies:

  1. Basic Adjectival Form

    • Uses ka- prefix with color source noun
    • Examples:
      • kakel “sky-like, blue” < ka-kel “sky-like”
      • kamar “blood-like, red” < ka-mar “blood-like”
      • kathral “mist-like, white” < ka-thral “mist-like”
      • kagral “earth-like, brown” < ka-gral “earth-like”

  2. Unambiguous Color Form

    • Uses -rak suffix (< arak “color”) to specify color meaning
    • Particularly useful when source noun is present
    • Examples:
      • kakelrak “blue” (specifically the color)
      • kamarrak “red” (specifically the color)
      • kathralrak “white” (specifically the color)
      • kagralrak “brown” (specifically the color)

Compare:

kakel kel
sky-like sky
"sky-like sky" (could refer to any sky quality)


kakelrak kel
blue sky
"blue sky" (specifically about color)

The -rak suffix can also be used in color-changing contexts:

'al'isel alises arak'er kelel kelrakes
person.PROX.ERG who.ABS color.VERB sky.ERG blue.ABS
"I colored the sky blue"

Derivational Morphology

Section titled “Derivational Morphology”

Similarity Prefix

Section titled “Similarity Prefix”
  • ka- [kə]: prefix meaning “like, similar to”
  • Always surfaces as [kə-] due to regular vowel reduction Examples:
  • ka-tor [kə.tor] “hill-like” (smaller than a mountain)
  • ka-mal [kə.mal] “pond-like” (smaller than a lake)
  • ka-bram [kə.bram] “tide-like” (rhythmic movement)

Negation System

Section titled “Negation System”
  • mo- [mo]: general negation prefix Examples:
  • mo-thral “non-sacred, profane”
  • mo-ter “not flowing, stagnant”
  • mo-ward “misdirect, lead astray”

Compound Formation

Section titled “Compound Formation”
  • Basic Pattern: modifier-head
  • Sound changes:
    • Liquid deletion: tor-mal → tomal
    • Nasal deletion: bram-mal → bramal
    • glottal stop deletion also removes immediately succeeding vowel: ‘irur-‘ilis → ‘irurlis
    • Examples:
      • kur-tin → kurtin “bronze” (copper-tin)
      • bram-mater → brammater “river vessel” (tide-vessel)
      • thral-kel → thrakel “sun” (sacred-sky)

Action Nominal Compounds

Section titled “Action Nominal Compounds”

Action nominal compounds require the verbalizer -‘er as part of the compound structure:

BASE-VERB’er (e.g., mater-tag’er, pel-thren’er)

Unlike regular compounds, action nominals preserve morphological boundaries and resist normal compound phonology:

  • mater-tag’er → [ma.ter.tag.ʔer] (not *[ma.te.tag.ʔer])
  • pel-thren’er → [pel.θren.ʔer]

This preservation of boundaries:

  • Maintains transparency of components
  • Shows clear verbal derivation
  • Parallels treatment of sacred/ritual terms
  • Helps parse complex forms

Compare:

  • tor-mal → tomal “great pool” (regular compound)
  • tor-mal’er → tor-mal’er “pool-expanding” (action nominal)
Restrictions
Section titled “Restrictions”

  1. Base Requirements:

    • First element must be a concrete noun (mater-tag’er “boat-making” but notthral-tag’er “sacred-making”)
    • Second element must be an action-capable root (tag’er “make”, thren’er “watch”, but not *sul’er “liver-VERB”)

  2. Semantic Restrictions:

    • Must describe culturally recognized activities
    • Cannot form from abstract or metaphorical relationships
    • Maritime and craft terms particularly productive
    • Sacred/ritual terms require special authorization

  3. Structural Limits:

    • Maximum of one nominal base + one verbal element
    • Cannot stack multiple actions (*mater-tag-thren’er)
    • Cannot incorporate case markers (*materel-tag’er)

Note: For professional or habitual agents, Early Hick uses the agentive suffix -ok instead:

  • ‘irurvinudok “house cleaner” (house-clean-AGENT)
  • matertagok “boat maker” (boat-make-AGENT)
  • pelthrenok “bear watcher” (bear-watch-AGENT)

Action nominals focus on the activity itself, while agentive forms indicate the performer of the action.

Note: For professional or habitual agents, Early Hick uses the agentive suffix -ok with regular compound formation:

  • ‘iruvinudok “house cleaner” < ‘irur-vinud-ok “hollow-dwelling-AGENT” (with liquid deletion)
  • matagok “boat maker” < mater-tag-ok “boat-make-AGENT” (with liquid deletion)
  • pethrenok “bear watcher” < pel-thren-ok “bear-watch-AGENT” (with liquid deletion)

Action nominals focus on the activity itself and preserve morphological boundaries, while agentive forms follow regular compound phonology and indicate the performer of the action.

Body Metaphors

Section titled “Body Metaphors”
  1. Breath as the soul
  2. Liver as source of life
  3. Heart as source of emotion
  4. Bones as structure
  5. Hands as tools
  6. Eyes as reality
  7. Skin as appearance
  8. Skin, Hair as abstract senses
  9. Stomach, gut as strength
  10. Liver as source of instinct and intuition

Affix Order

Section titled “Affix Order”

Basic Template

Section titled “Basic Template”

  1. Root Structure

    • (PREFIX*) + ROOT + (SUFFIX*)
    • Maximum of three prefixes and two suffixes

  2. Order of Elements

(NEG)-(ADJ)-(PLURAL)-(SIZE)-ROOT-(AGENT)-(CASE)

Examples:

  • mo-ka-tor-el (NEG-ADJ-height-ERG) “not height-like (as agent)”
  • ka-ma-li-mal-ok-es (ADJ-PL-DIM-pool-AGENT-ABS) “small pool-like keepers”
  • ka-tor-mal-el (ADJ-AUG-pool-ERG) “great pool-like thing (as agent)“

Prefix Classes

Section titled “Prefix Classes”

  1. Outer Prefixes (first position)

    • mo- (NEG): negation

  2. Second Position

    • ka- (ADJ): adjectivizer

  3. Third Position

    • ma- (PL): plural

  4. Inner Prefixes (closest to root)

    • tor- (AUG): augmentative
    • li- (DIM): diminutive

Suffix Classes

Section titled “Suffix Classes”

  1. Inner Suffixes (closer to root)

  2. Outer Suffixes (final position)

    • -el (ERG): ergative case
    • -es (ABS): absolutive case
    • -imris (ELL): ellative case (“from”)
    • -las (ILL): illative case (“into”)
    • -itar (SUPE): superessive case (“upon”)
    • -esp (SUBE): subessive case (“under”)
    • -asam (SUB): sublative case (“onto”)
    • -sim (TRANS): translative case (“becomes”)

    See: Spatial Case System

Restrictions

Section titled “Restrictions”

  1. Co-occurrence

    • Only one prefix from each position class
    • Maximum of one case suffix
    • Agent suffix must precede case suffix

  2. Phonological Interactions

    • Prefix ka- always reduces to [kə-]
    • Unlike compounds, affixes do not trigger liquid or nasal deletion
    • Compare:
      • Compound: tor-mal → tomal “great pool” (liquid deletion)
      • Affix: tor-el → tor-el “height-ERG” (no deletion)

Syntax

Section titled “Syntax”

Property Words and Modification

Section titled “Property Words and Modification”

Early Hick uses property words (like English adjectives and adverbs) in three main ways:

  1. As Adjectives (modifying nouns)

    • Come before the noun they modify
    'irek litor-es etal
    firm hill-ABS that.MED
    "that firm hill" (like English "the tall tree")

  2. As Predicate Adjectives (with verb marking)

    litor-es ka'irek'er
    hill-ABS ADJ-firm-VERB
    "The hill is firm" (like English "The tree is tall")

  3. As Adverbs (modifying verbs)

    • Come after the verb they modify
    • Often take the similarity prefix ka-
    wen'altanes 'irek'er ka'irek
    woman.MED.VIS.ANIM-ABS stand-VERB firm-SIM
    "She stands firmly" (like English "-ly" adverbs)

This pattern means that word order shows whether a property word is acting like an adjective (before nouns) or an adverb (after verbs).

Clause Structure and Word Order

Section titled “Clause Structure and Word Order”

  1. Basic Patterns

    • Core arguments marked by case, allowing flexible word order
    • Ergative (-el) marks agent of transitive verbs
    • Absolutive (-es) marks patient of transitive & sole argument of intransitive
    • Word order signals pragmatic functions rather than grammatical roles

  2. Information Structure

    • Initial position: topic/focus or temporal frame

    • Final position: new information or emphasis

    • Examples:

      branum bramisimris kethes
      past    river-ELL    sea-ABS
      "In the past, the river flowed to the sea" (temporal frame first)
      

      kethes bramisimris branum
      sea-ABS river-ELL    past
      "The river flowed to the sea, in the past" (neutral statement)

  3. Verb Position and Aspect

    • Verbs can occur in different positions based on aspect:

      materok-el rismater-es ward tel
      handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS guide COMPL
      "The handler has guided the reed boat" (completed action)
      

      rismater-es ward kethes
      reed.boat-ABS guide sea-ABS
      "The reed boat guides to sea" (general statement)

    • Directional constructions allow goal prominence:

      keth-las materok-el rismater-es
      sea-ILL  handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS
      "To sea the handler (takes) the reed boat"

  4. Temporal Reference

    • Time words can float freely but tend toward:

      • Initial: setting temporal frame for discourse
      • Pre-verbal: marking temporal contrast
      • Final: neutral narrative position

    • Examples:

      branum materok-el ward-ʔer  # Frame-setting
      past    handler-ERG guide-VERB
      "In the past, the handler guided"
      

      materok-el branum ward-ʔer  # Temporal contrast
      handler-ERG past    guide-ACT
      "The handler USED TO guide"
      

      materok-el ward-ʔer branum  # Neutral narrative
      handler-ERG guide-ACT past
      "The handler guided, in the past"

See: Tense and Aspect for a complete description of:

  • Past reference markers (branum, branrum)
  • Future reference (mulsum)
  • Completive aspect (tel)
  • Position effects on temporal interpretation

Comitative Construction

Section titled “Comitative Construction”

Early Hick marks accompaniment through the particle ewes, which precedes an absolutive-marked participant:

'al'isel ewes Maries ward'er
person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS-ERG WITH Mari-ABS travel.VERB
"I travel with Mari"

The primary participant takes ergative case while the accompanying participant is marked absolutive. See also: Conjunctions for coordinated usage of ewes.

Object Control Constructions

Section titled “Object Control Constructions”

Early Hick has two primary strategies for expressing object control (“X tells Y to do Z”):

Primary Construction: Causative-like Formation

Section titled “Primary Construction: Causative-like Formation”

Uses the adjectival prefix ka- with translative -sim to show caused state (See: Adjectival Marking):

branum 'al'isel kaimerespsim galtales
PAST person.PROX.ERG ADJ-sleep-TRANS man.MED.ABS
"I made him sleep" (lit. "I made him become sleep-like")

The construction maintains ergative-absolutive alignment, with the causer marked ergative and the causee marked absolutive.

ma'altalel 'al'ises 'ilisimris'er [katagsim wen'er wenel]
PL.person.MED.ERG person.PROX.ABS teach.VERB [ADJ.give.TRANS bloom.VERB flower.ERG]
"They taught us to make flowers bloom"


'al'isel altales 'ilisimris'er [katagsim sul'er aiel]
person.PROX.ERG person.MED.ABS teach.VERB [ADJ.give.TRANS flow.VERB water.ERG]
"I taught them to make the water flow"

The embedded causative maintains its fixed [AUX VERB SUBJ] order even with multiple verbs, while the matrix clause remains flexible:

altales 'al'isel [katagsim sul'er aiel] 'ilisimris'er
person.MED.ABS person.PROX.ERG [ADJ.give.TRANS flow.VERB water.ERG] teach.VERB
"Them, I taught to make the water flow"

Quotative Strategy

Section titled “Quotative Strategy”

Uses relative clause structure to frame commands as reported speech:

branum 'al'isel ['alises paket'er imerespes!] galtalimrises
PAST person.PROX.ERG [who.ABS say.VERB sleep.IMP.ABS!] man.MED.ELL.ABS
"I who said 'sleep!' to him"

Key features:

  • Relative clause with ‘alis- as relativizer
  • Imperative marked with absolutive -es
  • Recipient marked with ellative -imris
  • Commands treated as affecting their target (like P arguments)

Reflexive Constructions

Section titled “Reflexive Constructions”

Early Hick marks reflexive relationships primarily through case marking and demonstrative agreement:

  1. Basic Reflexives With transitive verbs, the agent takes ergative case and the reflexive object takes illative:

    galtalel tallas hilis'er
    person.MED.ERG MED.ILL look.VERB
    "He looked at himself"
    

    ma'altalel matallas pak'er
    PL.person.MED.ERG PL.MED.ILL speak.VERB
    "They spoke among themselves"

  2. Indirect Objects For ditransitive verbs, reflexive recipients take illative case:

    'al'isel 'islas taglas'er 'iruretiles
    person.PROX.ERG PROX.ILL give.ITER.VERB gift.ABS
    "I gave myself a gift"
    

    wen'altalel tallas paket'irur
    woman.MED.ERG MED.ILL talk.ITER
    "She told herself stories"

Key features:

  • Demonstrative agreement between agent and reflexive forms
  • Illative case (-las) marks reflexive targets
  • Number agreement maintained in plural forms
  • Regular ergative-absolutive alignment for non-reflexive arguments

  1. Method/Means Expression Uses the object control construction with ka- prefix and translative -sim to express how an action is performed:

    'al'isel paketes katenwasim tenwa'er
    person.PROX.ERG speech.ABS ADJ.write.TRANS write.VERB
    "I wrote the speech through writing"
    

    materok-el rismater-es katagasim ward'er
    handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS ADJ.craft.TRANS guide.VERB
    "The handler guides the reed boat through crafting"

    The construction treats the method as a caused state change, following the same pattern as other reflexive and causative expressions in Early Hick.

Comparative Constructions

Section titled “Comparative Constructions”

Early Hick has two primary strategies for expressing comparisons: similarity/ equivalence marking and relative degree constructions.

Similarity and Equivalence

Section titled “Similarity and Equivalence”

Early Hick marks similarity through two related constructions derived from Proto-Hick *kasu “reflection”:

  1. Simple Comparisons Uses the ka- prefix for straightforward comparisons with single nouns:

    kamales ward'er
    ADJ.pool.ABS contain.VERB
    "(It) contains like a pool"

  2. Complex Comparisons Uses kas conjunction for phrases with modifiers:

    kas [kameris kethbranes] tagimris'er
    LIKE [ADJ.love kin.ABS] give.VERB
    "As beloved kin give"

Relative Degree

Section titled “Relative Degree”

Early Hick expresses relative degree through a specialized construction using spatial cases. The construction treats comparisons as stative predicates with two arguments:

  1. The comparable (what’s being compared) takes absolutive case
  2. The comparator (what it’s compared to) takes either superessive (-itar) or subessive (-asam) case
  3. The quality being compared is expressed as a stative verb with -‘er
Greater Than
Section titled “Greater Than”

Uses the superessive case (-itar “upon/above”):

tores tor'er malitar
mountain-ABS height-VERB pool-SUPE
"The mountain is taller than the pool"
(lit. "mountain heights above-pool")


'ales vinu'er 'altanitar
person-ABS birth-VERB man-SUPE
"The person is older than the man"
(lit. "person births above-man")
Less Than
Section titled “Less Than”

Uses the subessive case (-asam “under/below”):

males tor'er torasam
pool-ABS height-VERB mountain-SUBE
"The pool is less tall than the mountain"
(lit. "pool heights under-mountain")


'altanes vinu'er 'alasam
man-ABS birth-VERB person-SUBE
"The man is younger than the person"
(lit. "man births under-person")
Equality
Section titled “Equality”

Uses the comparative particle kas (see: Comparative Markers):

kas males tores tor'er
LIKE pool-ABS mountain-ABS height-VERB
"The pool is as tall as the mountain"
(lit. "like pool mountain heights")
Syntactic Properties
Section titled “Syntactic Properties”

The comparative construction shows several important properties:

  1. Case Alignment

    • Comparable takes absolutive case (-es)
    • Comparator takes spatial case (-itar/-asam)
    • Maintains ergative-absolutive alignment pattern

  2. Word Order

    • Basic order: COMPARABLE-ABS QUALITY-VERB COMPARATOR-SUPE/SUBE
    • Follows standard clause structure flexibility

  3. Multiple Comparators

    • Can be coordinated with ru:
    tores tor'er [mal o keth ruitar]
    mountain-ABS height-VERB [pool PART sea AND-SUPE]
    "The mountain is taller than both the pool and sea"

    • Similarly for subessive comparisons:

      males tor'er [tor o keth ruasam]
      pool-ABS height-VERB [mountain PART sea AND-SUBE]
      "The pool is shorter than both the mountain and sea"

    The case marking attaches to the coordinator ru rather than to individual nouns, following Early Hick’s general coordination pattern.

  4. Negation

    • Negates the stative verb with mo-:
    males motor'er torasam
    pool-ABS NEG-height-VERB mountain-SUBE
    "The pool is not less tall than the mountain"

  5. Temporal Reference

    • Takes standard temporal markers:
    branum 'ales vinu'er 'altanitar
    PAST person-ABS birth-VERB man-SUPE
    "The person was older than the man"

Tense

Section titled “Tense”

Clauses without explicit temporal marking in Early Hick express present tense. These unmarked clauses can indicate either simple present (“walks”) or present progressive (“is walking”) readings, with the specific interpretation determined by context and predicate semantics. For example:

'ales      barak'er
person-ABS walk-VERB
"The person walks/is walking"

Tense Markers

Section titled “Tense Markers”

When temporal specification is required, Early Hick employs three temporal markers that operate at the clause level:

  • branum (past)
  • mulsum (future)
  • branrum (far past)

Usage

Section titled “Usage”

In a simple clause, the temporal tense marker can be typically found in the beginning or end of the clause.

branum materok-el  ward-'er
past   handler-ERG guide-VERB
"The handler guided (in the past)"
mulsum materok-el  ward-'er
future handler-ERG guide-VERB
"The handler will guide"

In contexts where aesthetic or poetic effect is desired, the marker can be found right before the verbal phrase.

'ales      mulsum barak'er
person-ABS future walk-VERB
"The person will walk"

Relative Clauses

Section titled “Relative Clauses”

In relative clauses where the dependent clause refers to a different time frame than the main clause, temporal markers may occur after the relativizer. See: Relative Clauses

For example:

'altanel         ['alises branum thren'er] ward'er
man-MED.VIS.ANIM [WHO-ABS PAST watch.VERB] guide.VERB
"That man who watches guides"
mulsum   'altanel         ['alises branum thren'er] ward'er
FUT      man-MED.VIS.ANIM [WHO-ABS PAST watch.VERB] guide.VERB
"That man who watches guides"

Complex Clauses

Section titled “Complex Clauses”

When clauses are linked by coordinators, each clause may carry its own temporal marking to indicate different time frames:

[clause + temporal marker] coordinator [clause + temporal marker]

Note that the flexibility of the temporal marker position is still available in each clause

The Distant Past Marker branrum

Section titled “The Distant Past Marker branrum”

Early Hick has developed a special case marker for use when referring to events that had occurred in the distant past. The marker branrum is often only ever uttered in either religious contexts or in epic poetry.

When it is used, it functions similarly to the past marker branum.

Aspect

Section titled “Aspect”

Early Hick aspect markers are typically found following the verbalized word that they modify, however, in some aesthetic contexts, they may be placed at the end of the clause.

These aspect markers may be used in conjunction with the temporal markers to indicate different time frames.

When a clause does not carry an aspect marker, it is understood to be either in the simple or the progressive aspect.

Progressive Aspect Marker terum

Section titled “Progressive Aspect Marker terum”

In cases where the speaker wishes to emphasize ongoing or continuous states, the progressive aspect marker terum (< ter “flow” + -rum) can be used. These aspect markers may be used in conjunction with the temporal markers to indicate different time frames.

'ales      barak'er  terum
person-ABS walk-VERB flow.DIST
"The person is walking"


branum 'ales      barak'er  terum
PAST   person-ABS walk-VERB flow.DIST
"The person has been walking"

Completive Aspect Marker tel

Section titled “Completive Aspect Marker tel”

The completive aspect marker tel indicates finished actions.

'ales      barak'er  tel
person-ABS walk-VERB COMPL
"The person has walked"


branum 'ales      barak'er  tel
PAST   person-ABS walk-VERB COMPL
"The person had walked"

Iterative Aspect

Section titled “Iterative Aspect”

The Early Hick iterative marker works differently from the other aspect markers. It instead marks on an action word and replaces the verbalizer -‘er. It has three register-dependent forms, all deriving from Proto-Hick *heru-heru “motion-motion”:

  1. Formal/Ritual: -‘irur

    'ales barak'irur
    person-ABS walk-ITER
    "The person walks repeatedly" (formal/ritual context)

  2. Common: -rur

    'ales barakrur
    person-ABS walk.ITER
    "The person walks repeatedly" (everyday usage)

  3. Colloquial: -ur

    'ales barakur
    person-ABS walk.ITER
    "The person walks repeatedly" (casual speech)

The development shows typical grammaticalization path:

  1. Reduplicated noun *heru-heru > ‘irur “repetition”
  2. Grammaticalization to verbal suffix -‘irur
  3. Phonological reduction in common speech (-rur)
  4. Further reduction in colloquial register (-ur)

Note: The formal register preserves the etymological form with glottal stop, while common and colloquial registers show progressive reduction typical of grammaticalized elements.

Repetitive Aspect

Section titled “Repetitive Aspect”

The repetitive aspect in Early Hick is formed by combining the iterative suffix with the completive marker tel, indicating a single instance of a repeated or cyclical action:

'ales barakrur tel
person-ABS walk.ITER COMPL
"The person walked again" (lit. "completed one cycle of repeated walking")


branum 'ilistales barakrur tel
PAST school-ABS walk.ITER COMPL
"School began again" (lit. "completed one cycle of repeated starting")

This construction differs from the simple iterative, which marks continuous repetition:

'ales barakrur
person-ABS walk.ITER
"The person walks repeatedly"

The repetitive aspect is particularly useful for marking:

  • Return to previous states or activities
  • Cyclic events that complete one iteration
  • Repeated actions viewed as single completed instances

Mood

Section titled “Mood”

Early Hick expresses some modal meanings through syntactic constructions. For morphological mood marking, see: Verbal Mood

Imperative Construction

Section titled “Imperative Construction”

Early Hick forms imperatives by dropping the verbalizer -‘er and adding absolutive -es to the verb stem. The construction shows distinct word order and case marking from declarative sentences:

# Declarative
'al'isel tor ward'er
person.ERG mountain guide.VERB
"The person guides the mountain"


# Imperative
tor 'il wardes!
mountain good guide.IMP.ABS
"guide the mountain well!"

Key features:

  1. Object appears first and unmarked for case
  2. Modifiers directly precede the verb
  3. Verb takes absolutive marking
  4. No overt ergative agent

This construction represents one context where Early Hick deviates from its ergative-absolutive alignment, showing split ergativity typical of command forms.

Examples with different modifiers:

mes   thral  threndes!
heart sacred watch.IMP.ABS
"watch the heart sacredly!"
materok ka'il    wardes!
boat    ADJ.good guide.IMP.ABS
"guide the boat carefully!"

The pattern appears in both formal and informal contexts, including ritual expressions:

'ilitar   venuiteres!
good.SUPE birth.IMP.ABS
"(let) birth be raised in goodness!"

Exclamative Construction

Section titled “Exclamative Construction”

Early Hick marks exclamations through single-word utterances:

  1. For actions/verbs, the regular verb form is used:

    imris'er!
    flee.VERB!
    "(they're) fleeing!"
    

    ward'er!
    guide.VERB!
    "(they're) guiding!"

  2. For entities/participants, absolutive marking is used:

    im'etiles!
    monster.ABS!
    "a monster!"
    

    tores!
    mountain.ABS!
    "the mountain!"

These exclamatives typically express alarm, sudden realization, or strong emotion, contrasting with regular declarative sentences which use full argument structure.

Conjunctions

Section titled “Conjunctions”

Additive Coordination

Section titled “Additive Coordination”

Early Hick marks coordinated elements with the particle o and joins them with the coordinator ru (< Proto-Hick *storu “grow”):

kor o toren o ru-el
[cow PART horse PART] AND-ERG
"the cow and horse (as agent)"

The coordinator ru can take case marking to show the role of the coordinated phrase:

  • ru-el: coordinated elements as agent
  • ru-es: coordinated elements as patient/subject

Demonstrative marking may also be appedede to ru, if each of the coordinated elements are the same referent.

'imwen o wenkulok o rutanes
[witch PART sorceress PART] AND-DEM.MED.VIS.ANIM-ABS
"that witch and sorceress"

compare with:

'imwentan o wenkuloktan o rues
[that witch PART that sorceress PART] AND-ABS
"that witch and that (other) sorceress"

Disjunctive Coordination

Section titled “Disjunctive Coordination”

Early Hick marks alternatives with the particle o and joins them with the coordinator ‘a (< Proto-Hick *ʔaha “other”):

kor o toren o 'a-el
[cow PART horse PART] OR-ERG
"either the cow or the horse (as agent)"

The coordinator ‘a can take case marking to show the role of the coordinated phrase:

  • ‘a-el: coordinated elements as agent
  • ‘a-es: coordinated elements as patient/subject

Demonstrative marking may also be appended to ‘a, if the coordinated elements share referential properties:

'imwen o wenkulok o 'atanes
[witch PART sorceress PART] OR-DEM.MED.VIS.ANIM-ABS
"either that witch or that sorceress"

compare with:

'imwentan o wenkuloktan o 'aes
[that witch PART that sorceress PART] OR-ABS
"either that witch or that (other) sorceress"

The disjunctive coordinator follows the same structural patterns as the additive coordinator ru, maintaining the language’s systematic approach to coordination.

Shared Action Coordination

Section titled “Shared Action Coordination”

Early Hick can mark joint participation using ewes with the enumeration particle o:

'al'is o Mari o ewes-es ward'er
[person.DEM.PROX.ANIM.VIS PART Mari PART] WITH-ABS travel.VERB
"I and Mari together travel"

The coordinator ewes takes case marking and treats the coordinated elements as a single unit. This construction emphasizes equal participation in the action, contrasting with the comitative construction where one participant is marked as primary. See: Comitative Construction.

Note: ewes (< Proto-Hick ʔelu-lawes “consume with”) shows parallel development with the ergative marker -el, both deriving from Proto-Hickʔelu.

Temporal Coordination

Section titled “Temporal Coordination”

Temporal relationships between clauses use specialized coordinators:

  • ‘aterbran [ʔa.ter.bran] “before” (lit. “what-flow-dawn”)
  • ‘aterimris [ʔa.te.rim.ris] “after” (lit. “what-flow-from”)
  • ‘atertel [ʔa.ter.tel] “until” (lit. “what-flow-end”)
  • ‘aterter [ʔa.te.ter] “come to pass” (lit. “what-flow-time”)

Dependent clauses use nominalized verbs:

[kor o toren o] gras'er-es 'aterimris
[cow PART horse PART] graze-ABS after-ELL
"after the cow and horse grazed"

Position affects emphasis:

  • Initial: sets temporal frame for discourse
  • Final: neutral narrative position

Causal Subordinator

Section titled “Causal Subordinator”

imris [im.ris] “because” < Proto-Hick *imeru-ris “towards breath/spirit”

  • Functions as a subordinator marking causal relationships
  • Grammaticalized from Proto-Hick compound of *imeru “breath/spirit” +*ris (LAT)
  • Maintains ergative-absolutive alignment in both clauses
  • Can appear clause-initially or between clauses Examples:
imris torthil, 'al'ises barak'er
CAUS haughtiness, person.PROX.ABS walk.VERB
"Because of haughtiness, I walk"


imris ['al'isel ward'er tores], 'al'ises barak'er
CAUS [person.ERG guide.VERB mountain.ABS], person.PROX.ABS walk.VERB
"Because they guide the mountain, I walk"

Concessive Subordinator

Section titled “Concessive Subordinator”

las [las] “despite/for all” < Early Hick illative case -las “into”

  • Functions as a subordinator marking concessive relationships
  • Grammaticalized from spatial case marking inward motion
  • Can take both nominal and clausal complements
  • Parallels the development of imris

Examples:

las imerlas, 'al'ises tel'es branum
CONC inspiration, person.PROX.ABS empty.ABS PAST
"Despite/For all inspiration, I was empty"


las torthil, 'al'ises barak'er
CONC haughtiness, person.PROX.ABS walk.VERB
"Despite haughtiness, I walk"


las ['al'isel ward'er tores], 'al'ises tel'es branum
CONC [person.ERG guide.VERB mountain.ABS], person.PROX.ABS empty.ABS PAST
"Despite (that) they guide the mountain, I was empty"

Position and Usage

Section titled “Position and Usage”

Conjunctions interact with Early Hick’s information structure:

  1. Can take case marking to show grammatical roles
  2. Initial position emphasizes the relationship
  3. Final position gives neutral narrative flow
  4. With dependent clauses, verbs take nominal form

Examples:

imris toranes ter'er, 'ales barak'er
SUB   river-ABS flow-VERB person-ABS walk-VERB
"Because the river flows, the person walks"


'ales barak'er imris toranes ter'er
person-ABS walk-VERB SUB river-ABS flow-VERB
"The person walks because the river flows"

Both imris and las can appear clause-finally, especially in literary contexts and natural conversation:

'al'ises tel'es branum, imerlas las
person.PROX.ABS empty.ABS PAST, inspiration CONC
"I was empty, despite inspiration"


'al'ises barak'er, ['al'isel ward'er tores] imris
person.PROX.ABS walk.VERB, [person.ERG guide.VERB mountain.ABS] CAUS
"I walk, because they guide the mountain"

Note: The same form appears as the ellative case marker -imris, showing parallel grammaticalization from spatial/directional meaning to both case marking and subordination.

Interrogatives

Section titled “Interrogatives”

Basic Forms

Section titled “Basic Forms”

’aka [?a.ka] “what”

Section titled “’aka [?a.ka] “what””

  1. Basic Forms

    • ‘aka [ʔa.ka] “what”
    • ‘alis [ʔa.lis] “who” < ‘aka-‘al-‘is (what-person-PROX.ANIM)
      • Used for visible/known referents and confirmation
    • ‘atal [ʔa.tal] “where” < ‘aka-tal-is (what-place-PROX.INAN)
    • ‘ater [ʔa.ter] “when” < ‘aka-ter-is (what-flow-PROX.INAN)
      • Shows temporal metaphor of time as flow
    • ‘aker [ʔa.ker] “how” < ‘aka-‘er-is (what-VERB-PROX.INAN)

  2. Medial Forms (Hidden but Sensed)

    • ‘akaleth, ‘aleth [ʔa.leθ] < ‘aka-‘al-eth “who” (sensed person)
    • ‘akateth, ‘ateth [ʔa.teθ] < ‘aka-tal-eth “where” (sensed location)
    • ‘akatereth, ‘atereth [ʔa.te.reθ], < ‘aka-ter-eth “when” (sensed time)
    • ‘akereth [ʔa.ke.reθ] < ‘aka-‘er-eth “how” (sensed manner)

  3. Distal Forms (Out of Sight/Unknown)

    • ‘akalum [ʔa.lum] < ‘aka-‘al-um “who” (unknown person)
    • ‘atum [ʔa.tum] < ‘aka-tal-um “where” (unknown location)
    • ‘aterum [ʔa.te.rum] < ‘aka-ter-um “when” (unknown time)
    • ‘akerum [ʔa.ke.rum] < ‘aka-‘er-um “how” (unknown manner)

  4. Usage Examples

    'alis-el materok-es ward-'er?
    who.PROX-ERG boat-ABS guide-VERB
    "Who (that we can see) guides the boat?"
    

    'aleth-el thral-es his-'er?
    who.MED-ERG ritual-ABS watch-VERB
    "Who (that we can hear/sense) watches the ritual?"
    

    'atum-las materok-el rismater-es ward-'er?
    where.DIST-ILL handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS guide-VERB
    "Where (unknown) does the handler guide the reed boat to?"

  5. Semantic Notes

    • Proximal forms: Used for visible/known referents and confirmation
    • Medial forms: Used for sensed but not seen referents (sounds, smells, etc.)
    • Distal forms: Default information-seeking questions about unknowns
    • All forms take regular case marking based on syntactic role
    • Follow standard compound phonology (See: Compound Phonology)

See: Compound Phonology for sound change patterns

Relative Clauses

Section titled “Relative Clauses”

Early Hick forms relative clauses using interrogative pronouns as relativizers. These maintain their proximal/medial/distal distinctions and take case marking based on their syntactic role within the relative clause.

  1. Basic Structure

    ['alisel tiraies ter'er] barak'erimris vinudes
    [who.ERG ale.ABS drink.VERB] walk.VERB-ELL dwelling.ABS
    "Who drinks the ale walks home"

  2. Interrogative Forms Used

    • ak “which” (inanimate referents)
    • alis/aleth/alum: “who” (animate referents)
    • atal/ateth/atum: “where” (locations)
    • ater/atereth/aterum: “when” (time)
    • aker/akereth/akerum: “how” (manner)

  3. Case Marking

    • Relativizer takes case based on its role in the relative clause
    • Main clause maintains independent case marking
    'altanel [alises thren'er] ward'er
    man-MED.VIS.ANIM [who.ABS watch.VERB] guide.VERB
    "That man who watches guides"

  4. Evidentiality Through Distance Forms

    • Proximal (-is): visible/known referents
    • Medial (-eth): sensed but not seen referents
    • Distal (-um): unknown/general referents
    ['alumel materokes ward'er] thren'er
    [who.DIST.ERG boat.ABS guide.VERB] watch.VERB
    "Who(ever) guides the boat watches"

  5. Word Order

    • Relative clause typically precedes its head
    • Internal word order follows main clause patterns
    • Spatial case marking on verbs functions normally

Dialects

Section titled “Dialects”

Inland Dialect

Section titled “Inland Dialect”

Case Variation

Section titled “Case Variation”

The standard ellative -imris appears as -iter in some inland dialects, showing older forms preserved away from maritime contact. This explains forms like:

  • Standard: vinuimris “to give birth” < vinu-imris “pregnancy-ELL”
  • Inland: venuiter “to give birth” < venu-iter “burden-ELL.DIAL”

This dialectal variation is preserved in the formal birthday greeting:

'ilitar venuiteres
good-SUPER birth-ELL.DIAL-ABS
"blessings upon your birth"

Note: The greeting preserves the inland dialect form, suggesting its origin in older agricultural communities before maritime trade influence.

Development Notes

Section titled “Development Notes”

Case Development

Section titled “Case Development”

Superessive (-itar)

Section titled “Superessive (-itar)”

The Early Hick superessive marker -itar derives from Proto-Hick *ʔita haranu “above the break/horizon”:

  1. Initial compound: *ʔita haranu “above horizon”
  2. Fusion and reduction: > *ʔitharan
  3. Grammaticalization: > -itar
    • Loss of final nasal
    • Semantic broadening from “above horizon” to general “upon/above”
    • Shift from independent word to bound morpheme

Ellative (-imris)

Section titled “Ellative (-imris)”

The Early Hick ellative marker -imris derives from Proto-Hick *imeru-ris “towards breath/spirit”:

  1. Initial compound: *imeru-ris “towards breath”
  2. Fusion and reduction: > *imeris
  3. Nasal epenthesis: > -imris
    • Semantic shift from “towards breath” to “outward motion”
    • Parallel development as subordinator “because”
    • Shows common path: body/breath terms → spatial/causal markers

Subessive (-asam)

Section titled “Subessive (-asam)”

The Early Hick subessive marker -asam derives from the noun asam “rest, resting place” < PH *xasamu:

  1. Original noun: “rest, resting place”
  2. Metaphorical extension: “place beneath/under”
  3. Grammaticalization: > -asam
    • Semantic broadening from “resting place” to general “under/beneath”
    • Shift from independent noun to bound case marker
    • Shows common path: concrete spatial term → abstract case marker
    • Parallel development in compound vinusam “shoulder” (< *vinu xasamu “yoke rest”)
    • Maintains unstressed vowel reduction in both uses

Development of Demonstratives and Perception Verbs

Section titled “Development of Demonstratives and Perception Verbs”

Proximal Demonstrative -is and -‘is

Section titled “Proximal Demonstrative -is and -‘is”

The Early Hick proximal demonstrative -is and the verb ‘is “see” share a common origin in Proto-Hick *hisu “visible/in sight”:

  1. Original PH *hisu had related meanings:

    • Demonstrative: “this one here (that I can see)”
    • Evidential: “visibly/apparently”
    • Sensory: “sight/vision”

  2. Development paths:

    • Demonstrative: *hisu > -is (PROX.INAN)
    • Animate marker: *hi-‘isu > -‘is (PROX.ANIM)
    • Perception: *hisu > ‘is “see”

  3. Later developments:

    • Dialectal *hilis “look” borrowed to disambiguate active perception
    • Original *his reintroduced as “see” to maintain active/passive distinction
    • Demonstratives -is/-‘is retained distinct functions:
      • -is: proximal inanimate (“this thing here”)
      • -‘is: proximal animate (“this person/animal here”)

This explains:

  • The formal similarity between demonstratives and perception verbs
  • Why there are two demonstrative forms (-is/-‘is) with animacy distinction
  • The need for dialectal borrowing to maintain semantic distinctions
  • The preservation of h- in his/hilis despite normal sound changes

Development of the Ergative Case Marking -el

Section titled “Development of the Ergative Case Marking -el”

The Early Hick ergative marker -el derives from Proto-Hick *ʔelu through grammaticalization of an instrumental/ablative marker:

  1. Sound Changes:

    • *ʔelu >*lu (loss of initial glottal in unstressed position)
    • *lu > -el (vowel change in unstressed position)

  2. Functional Development:

    • Original meaning: instrumental/ablative “by means of/from”
    • Intermediate stage: marks agents as instruments of action
    • Final stage: general ergative marker

  3. Parallel Developments:

    • Preserved in compound forms like *bahu lu-haranu > bran “branch” (literally “split from father”)
    • Comitative meaning preserved in ewes < *ʔelu-lawes “together with”

Development of the Imperative Construction

Section titled “Development of the Imperative Construction”

The Early Hick imperative likely developed from a fuller command construction with an embedded clause:

  1. Original Construction:

    'al'isel 'alises command'er [tores threnes] talimris
    person.PROX.ERG who.ABS command.VERB [mountain.ABS watch.ABS] MED.ELL
    "I who command [mountain watching] to you"

  2. Modern Imperative:

    tor threndes!
    mountain watch.IMP.ABS
    "watch the mountain!"

This development explains several features of the modern construction:

  • Absolutive marking on the verb (-es) preserves the original nominalized action’s case
  • Unmarked object reflects its position in the original embedded clause
  • Word order maintains the original embedded clause structure

The pattern parallels the preserved quotative construction (see: Quotative Strategy), suggesting a common origin for different command expressions in Early Hick.

Section titled “Modal Construction Development”

Early Hick shows evidence of modal expressions developing from embedded clause constructions, with register distinctions preserving both older and grammaticalized forms. These formal variants make extensive use of relative clauses (see: Relative Clauses):

Commands

Section titled “Commands”

Formal/Literary:

'al'isel ['alises command'er tores threnes] talimris
person.ERG [who.ABS command.VERB mountain.ABS watch.ABS] MED.ELL
"I who command mountain-watching to you"

Colloquial:

tor threndes!
mountain watch.IMP.ABS
"watch the mountain!"

Desires

Section titled “Desires”

Formal/Literary:

'al'isel ['alises gnar'er ward'er] talimris
person.ERG [who.ABS correct.VERB guide.VERB] MED.ELL
"I who intend guiding to you"

Colloquial:

'al'isel wardnat
person.ERG guide.DES
"I want to guide"

This pattern of preserving older relative clause constructions in formal registers while using grammaticalized forms in colloquial speech appears to be a regular feature of Early Hick’s historical development. The use of ‘alis- as a relativizer in these formal constructions follows the standard relative clause pattern.

Development of Comparative Markers

Section titled “Development of Comparative Markers”

Proto-Hick *kasu “reflection (on water/mirror surface)” developed into two distinct but related markers in Early Hick, with one further developing into the general adjective marker.

kas (Comparative Conjunction)

Section titled “kas (Comparative Conjunction)”

  • Direct development from *kasu

  • Retains original sense of “mirror/reflection”

  • Grammaticalized as comparative conjunction “like/as”

  • Used with complex noun phrases: kas [NP] VERB

  • Maintains clear scope over entire phrases

  • Examples:

    kas [kameris kethbranes] tagimris'er
    LIKE [ADJ.love kin.ABS] give.VERB
    "As beloved kin give"

ka- Development Path

Section titled “ka- Development Path”

  1. Early Stage: Comparative Prefix

    • Developed from kas through fusion

    • Used in simple noun comparisons

    • No scope beyond single noun

    • Examples:

      kamales ward'er
      ADJ.pool.ABS contain.VERB
      "(It) contains like a pool"

  2. Middle Stage: Similarity Marker

    • Semantic broadening from “like X” to “X-like”

    • Used to mark general similarity

    • Examples:

      kakethbran ma'altales
      ADJ.kin person.MED.ABS
      "kin-like people"

  3. Late Stage: Adjective Marker

    • Further grammaticalization into general adjective prefix

    • Marks derived adjectives from nouns

    • Most common use in modern Early Hick

    • Original comparative meaning still visible in some constructions

    • Examples:

      kameris ales
      ADJ.love person.ABS
      "beloved person"

Development of the possession marker -ul

Section titled “Development of the possession marker -ul”

The Early Hick possessive suffix -ul shows a complex development path from Proto-Hick *ʔulu:

  1. Original Proto-Hick (~800 PF):

    • *ʔulu had three related meanings:
      • “thumb” (concrete body part)
      • “grasp” (physical action)
      • “possession” (abstract relation)

  2. Late Proto-Hick (~400 PF):

    • Semantic split occurs:
      • Bare form ulu: “thumb, possession”
      • Locative form ulisu: “grasp” (from *ʔulu-isu)
    • Shows common pattern of using locative case to specify action meanings

  3. Early Hick (~100 PF):

    • Further specialization:
      • ul: “thumb” (noun)
      • -ul: possessive marker (grammaticalized from possession meaning)
      • us: “grasp, possession” (from ulisu)

This development explains:

  • Why the possessive marker is phonologically identical to “thumb”
  • The relationship between ul and us
  • The preservation of both concrete and abstract meanings
  • The parallel development of possession marking in compounds

The pattern parallels other Early Hick grammaticalizations where body parts develop into grammatical markers (compare -el ergative < *ʔelu “by means of”).