Early Hick Core Grammar

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.

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.

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

The Early Hick ergative marker -el derives from Proto-Hick *mela, an older postposed deictic/definite particle, through clitic erosion and reanalysis:

1. Sound Changes:

   • *mela > *mel (final vowel loss)
   • *mel weakens to enclitic =mel in frequent definite-agent phrases

2. Clitic Reanalysis:

   • *kalu mela “the person” > *kal=mel “the known/salient person”
   • In high-frequency clitic phrases, =mel erodes to =el after sonorant-final stems
   • Speakers reanalyze =el as a case suffix and generalize it by analogy

3. Functional Development:

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

Basic Sentence Patterns

Early Hick word order is flexible because the core sentence roles are marked by case endings. That does not mean word order is meaningless. Case tells the listener who is doing, moving, or receiving; order can still mark topic, focus, rhythm, poetic shape, or the felt path of a motion. The examples below give common neutral orders first, then show alternate orders with the same basic roles. In complex clauses, word order becomes more constrained because modifiers, quoted clauses, and dependent clauses need clear scope.

One Noun Plus Action

When a clause has one participant and one action, the single participant takes absolutive -es. This is the noun English grammar would usually call the subject. Early Hick still marks it with absolutive because there is no separate receiver or affected noun in the clause.

'al-es barak'er
person-ABS walk-VRB
"The person walks."

barak'er 'al-es
walk-VRB person-ABS
"The person walks." / "Walks, the person."

The first order is plain and neutral. The second order can put attention on the action first, but the -es ending still marks ’al as the single participant.

Doer, Receiver, and Action

With a transitive action, the doer takes ergative -el and the receiver or affected noun takes absolutive -es. Because the endings carry the roles, the doer does not have to come first. Changing the order changes emphasis or discourse flow, not the basic doer/receiver relationship.

materok-el rismater-es ward'er
handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS guide-VRB
"The handler guides the reed boat."

rismater-es ward'er materok-el
reed.boat-ABS guide-VRB handler-ERG
"The handler guides the reed boat."

The second order places the reed boat first, which can make it the discourse topic or the first image in a poetic line. The handler is still the doer because it carries -el. The reed boat is still the receiver because it carries -es.

Stative Descriptions

Quality descriptions are usually formed with ka- derived forms. To make the description a full finite statement, the describing form can take the verbalizer -’er. This is a stative description: it presents the noun as having a quality, rather than describing a separate action.

Short descriptive phrases can also place the ka- form before the absolutive noun:

This shorter pattern is less explicitly finite than kel-es kakel’er. It is useful when the quality is being presented as a property of the noun rather than as a full action-like predicate.

Zero-Verb Motion

Productive spatial case can imply motion without adding the verbalizer -’er. In this pattern, the spatially marked noun phrase acts as the directional predicate of the clause. The moving participant is the only core argument, so it takes absolutive -es.

Order is not grammatically fixed. The mover may appear before or after the spatial phrase. However, the order can be chosen to match the felt direction of the motion, to set a location as the topic, or to fit a poetic line.

gal-es rismater-las
man-ABS reed.boat-ILL
"The man enters the reed boat."

rismater-las gal-es
reed.boat-ILL man-ABS
"Into the reed boat, the man goes."

The first example starts with the mover and then gives the goal. The second example starts with the goal, so it can feel like the sentence is oriented toward the destination before the mover is named. Both are still zero-verb motion clauses, and neither adds -’er to the spatial case ending.

Caused Motion

When someone causes another noun to perform a directional movement or task, the causer takes ergative -el, the moving participant takes absolutive -es, and the goal or source takes the spatial case. The absolutive noun remains the subject of the directional movement; the ergative noun is the agent causing that movement. This differs from ordinary transitive action because the absolutive noun is not only an affected receiver. It is the participant whose path or directional task is being caused.

materok-el rismater-es keth-las
handler-ERG reed.boat-ABS sea-ILL
"The handler takes the reed boat to sea."

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

In both examples, materok-el is the causer. rismater-es is the thing caused to move. keth-las names the directional goal. The order can change for emphasis, but the case endings keep the roles clear.

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.VRB 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.

Spatial Case System

See the expanded Spatial Cases page for detailed uses and regional variants.

Early Hick uses case marking to show direction, source, path, or spatially understood change.

The spatial cases are:

• -las (ILL): “inward, into”
• -imris (ELL): “outward, from”
• -itar (SUPE, motion-context SALL): “on, upon, above”; “onto, up onto” in motion contexts
• -esp (SUBE): “under, below”
• -asam (SUBL): “downward, onto a lower surface”

Productive spatial case attaches to the noun phrase that names the place, source, goal, path, or state. In this use, the spatial case does not take the verbalizer -’er. The spatially marked noun phrase itself can imply motion or change without an overt English-style verb.

The above example shows the man gal moving inward into the boat rismater. Because gal is the sole moving participant, it takes absolutive -es.

When a participant causes something else to move, the causer takes ergative -el, the moved thing takes absolutive -es, and the goal or source carries the spatial case. If an overt action verb is present, the verb takes -’er while the spatial case remains on the place or state noun.

Spatial cases can also fossilize into derivational morphology, creating case-lexicalized directional stems such as taglas “take, receive” and thralas “divine revelation, sacred illumination.” See Case-Lexicalized Directional Stems.

Temporal System

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 Marker	Meaning
branum	past
branrum	far past
mulsum	future

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."

Conjunctions

Early Hick has several conjunctions for connecting elements:

• o [o] - enumeration particle used after each coordinated member
• 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.