Early Hick Morphology

Nominal Morphology

Noun Phrase Structure

Early Hick noun phrases are built around a marked noun. Words that describe the noun are normally derived with ka- and come before it, while suffixes that identify or mark the noun attach after the noun stem.

[possessor-ul] [describing words] [prefixes-noun-demonstrative-case]

The common spoken order is:

1. Possessor phrase, if present
2. Describing words, usually ka- forms
3. Number, partitive, negative, or size prefixes attached to the noun
4. Noun root
5. Demonstrative suffix
6. Case suffix

Demonstratives come before case endings. For animate nouns, the same slot takes the animate demonstrative:

Possessors come before the noun phrase they possess. The possessive suffix -ul attaches to the possessor, not to the possessed noun:

This overview gives the normal order for transparent, fully marked forms. Poetry and formal prose may front a case-marked noun phrase for emphasis, but the internal order of the noun phrase usually remains visible.

When a describing form made with ka- refers to more than one thing, the plural marker normally belongs to the noun that is being counted, not inside the ka- form:

One possible colloquial development would be to compress this into a derived form:

This ma-ka-N pattern is noted here only as a possible future or colloquial form. It is not yet treated as a settled canonical Early Hick rule. Careful speech prefers the fuller noun phrase.

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

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. Honorific / Majestic Prefix (ano-)

   • Borrowed high-register intensifier meaning “great, grand, majestic, exalted, awe-inspiring”
   • Distinct from ordinary native tor-: tor- marks size, greatness, or force, while ano- marks ceremonial, mythic, or honorific grandeur
   • Developed from Quenya dragon terminology and reinforced by learned reanalysis of anuloke as ano-loke
   • Examples:
     • ano-loke “majestic dragon, exalted dragon”
     • ano-thral “august, supremely sacred”

4. Transmentative (tor- -sim)

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

Number Marking

Early Hick has five strategies for marking number:

1. Plural Prefix ma-

   • Indicates general plurality
   • ma-mater “boats”
   • Can mark plurality of referents, including demonstrative-person forms:
     • ma’alis “these people”
     • ma’altan “those people”
     • ma’al’isel “these people as doer”
     • ma’al’ises “these people as main noun or receiver”

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- (< ’iran “bifurcation point; branching divide”)

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

   The prefix ran- is related to lexical ran “stream, brook,” but it is not derived directly from that watercourse meaning. Both forms continue an older naturalized mainland Hickic borrowing ’iran “bifurcation point; branching divide.” Lexical ran narrowed to the flowing branch after a divide, while grammatical ran- generalized the division sense into “part, share, some of.”

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:

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- “tail, end, limit” to form telran-, marking exclusivity:

   These markers are mutually exclusive in the same position class: (NEG)-(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

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 Prefix (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):

   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

Multiple ka- derived forms 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

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

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 LIST sea LIST wood LIST 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

Early Hick demonstratives mark more than physical distance. They also mark whether the referent is directly available to the speaker and listener, whether it is only indirectly available through sound, smell, inference, memory, or expectation, and whether it is socially or conversationally distant. The inanimate forms also function as the default forms when animacy is irrelevant, unknown, or deliberately downplayed.

The main contrast is:

1. Proximal forms identify a referent in the speaker’s immediate perceptual or conversational field.
2. Medial direct forms identify a referent that is not “this here,” but is still available to shared attention: visible, known, pointed out, or otherwise mutually established.
3. Medial indirect forms identify a referent that is not directly available, but is recoverable from indirect evidence. This includes things heard behind a wall, smelled nearby, expected to be in a place, inferred from traces, or sensed as an unseen presence.
4. Distal forms identify referents outside immediate shared attention. They can mark physical distance, unknown identity, general reference, or social distance.

Proximal Demonstratives -is and -’is

The proximal forms mark referents close to the speaker’s immediate perceptual or conversational field. They are also used for confirmation, presentation, and strong discourse anchoring: “this one, the one now before us.” The inanimate/default form is -is; the animate form is -’is.

• materis “this boat”
• toris “this mountain”
• ’al’is “this person”
• pel’is “this bear”

The proximal animate form is the usual basis for reinforced first-person reference, because a speaker can refer to themself as ’al’is “this person.” This does not mean Early Hick has a fixed personal pronoun identical to English “I”; it means the demonstrative system can be pressed into personal reference when context requires it.

Medial Direct Demonstratives -en and -tan

The medial direct forms mark referents that are not “this here,” but remain available to shared attention. A referent may be visible, pointed out, remembered from the immediate conversation, or otherwise mutually established. The inanimate/default form is -en; the animate form is -tan.

• materen “that boat there”
• toren “that mountain there”
• ’altan “that person there”
• peltan “that bear there”

The important criterion is shared availability, not raw distance. Toren “that mountain” can refer to a visible mountain on the horizon or to a mountain already established in the conversation. The form says that speaker and listener can both identify the referent directly enough for it to be treated as part of the shared scene.

Medial Indirect Demonstratives -eth and -thir

The medial indirect forms mark referents that are not directly available to shared attention, but are recoverable by indirect evidence. This includes sound, smell, touch, memory, expectation, traces, inference, or a sensed presence. The inanimate/default form is -eth; the animate form is -thir.

• matereth “that boat we hear/sense/expect”
• toreth “that mountain hidden or inferred there”
• ’althir “that unseen person/presence”
• pelthir “that hidden or sensed bear”

The direct and indirect medial forms are not interchangeable. Toren “that mountain” refers to a mountain that is visible, known, or already part of shared attention. Toreth “that mountain” refers to a mountain that is hidden or only indirectly recoverable, such as a mountain behind fog, a known pass being searched for, or a landform inferred from the shape of the wind and clouds.

The same contrast appears with animate referents. ’Altan is “that person there” in the shared scene. ’Althir is “that person/presence” sensed or inferred but not directly available, such as a speaker behind a door, someone moving in darkness, or an unseen living force.

Natural forces can be grammatically animate when they are treated as agentive. This is especially common with -thir, which can mark unseen living or quasi-living forces:

Distal Demonstratives -um and -rum

The distal forms mark referents outside immediate shared attention. This can mean physical distance, unknown identity, general reference, narrative distance, or social distance. The inanimate/default form is -um; the animate form is -rum.

• materum “that boat over there; some boat like that”
• torum “that mountain over there; some mountain like that”
• ’alrum “that person over there; people like that”
• pelrum “that bear over there; bears like that”

Distal forms can be physically concrete, but they often do social and discourse work. ’Alrum may mean “that person over there,” but it can also mean “people like that,” especially when the speaker marks the referent as distant in social alignment, trust, morality, or shared responsibility. Torum pushes a place or thing out of the current shared scene: distant, unknown, generalized, or treated as background.

Personal Reference

Personal reference extends the demonstrative system rather than forming an independent pronoun class. The common proximal animate form is built from ’al “person” plus the animate proximal demonstrative -’is:

With case marking, this gives forms such as:

• ’al’isel “this person as doer” (often “I” in context)
• ’al’ises “this person as main noun or receiver” (often “I/me” in context)
• ’altanel “that person as doer” (often “you/he/she/they” in context)
• ’altanes “that person as main noun or receiver”
• ’alrumel “those people / people like that as doer” (general or socially distant)
• ’alrumes “those people / people like that as main noun or receiver”

These personal-reference forms are normally dropped when the speaker, addressee, or third party is clear from context. They are retained when the reference needs reinforcement, contrast, strengthening, or literary weight. Formal and poetic styles use overt personal references more often than ordinary speech.

Animacy remains important in reference. Animate personal-reference forms are used for people and other animate referents. This is not the same as biological life. Some non-living referents may be grammatically animate when they are understood as having force, agency, intention, or self-directed motion. Rivers, oceans, storms, wind, fire, and ritually powerful places may therefore take animate demonstrative marking in some contexts.

When the speaker refers to an ordinary object, place, event, or situation in relation to themselves, Early Hick usually uses the inanimate demonstrative series instead of the animate ’al- forms.

These are not ordinary English possessive pronouns. They are demonstrative references whose interpretation depends on speaker, addressee, discourse, and visible context. Use animate ’al- forms for people, animals, and referents treated as agentive or force-bearing. Use inanimate demonstrative forms for ordinary things and situations. The exact boundary for non-living animate referents is not yet exhaustively listed and may depend on register, genre, and local practice.

Medial forms such as ’altanel or ma’altanel usually refer to a known, recoverable person or group: “they, those friends of ours.” Distal forms such as ’alrumel or ma’alrumel can instead refer to a generalized or socially distant group: “they, people like that.”

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

Early Hick negation is primarily prefixal. The standard general negative prefix is mo-. It attaches before the stem or derived form it negates.

1. Word Negation

   mo-thral
   NEG-sacred
   "non-sacred, profane"
   
   mo-ter
   NEG-flow
   "not flowing, stagnant"
   
   mo-ward
   NEG-guide
   "misdirect, lead astray"

2. Negative Descriptive Statements

   In qualitative or stative description, mo- scopes outside the ka- descriptive form. The negative prefix therefore comes before ka-:

   In a fully finite stative statement, the negative derived form can take the verbalizer:

   This pattern parallels other stative negation such as:

3. Action Negation

   Broader clausal action negation is less fully attested in the current corpus. The expected transparent pattern would be mo-ROOT-’er, with mo- negating the verbal stem before the verbalizer:

   This should be treated as the regular expected pattern unless a more specific negative particle or construction is later documented.

4. Standalone negative answer

   The ordinary standalone negative answer is mope “no.” Historically, this is a reinforced negative form mo-pe, with the productive Seneran negative mo- strengthening an older inherited refusal particle pe. This is a negative-concord form, not a logical double negative.

   The older pe! survives mainly as childish, petulant, or teasing refusal. Related fossilized forms include penar “inaction, refusal to act”, peker “to refuse, deny”, and pekok “naysayer, habitual refuser; idler”. These are lexical survivals of the older refusal layer and do not make pe- a productive Early Hick negation prefix.

5. Privative im-

   im- is a newly documented, predominantly western Seneran regional privative prefix meaning “without, lacking, deprived of.” It develops from im “evil, abstract negativity” through semantic bleaching from harmful or defective to lacking. This privative use should be distinguished from the older and more common lexical or derivational use of im for “evil, harmful, improper.” Productive-looking im- compounds meaning “evil X” or “badly/improperly X” are therefore better treated as the older moral/qualitative im pattern unless the meaning is clearly privative. For now, it should be treated as a regional western Seneran feature rather than a general standard Early Hick clausal negator.

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

2. Semantic Range

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

Verbal Morphology

Verbalizer

• -’er [’er]: creates verbs from nouns and property concepts
• Productive forms normally preserve the glottal boundary
• After sibilant-stop codas, ordinary speech may repair the cluster by moving the final stop into the verbalizer syllable and collapsing the glottal

Active verbs (from action/motion concepts)

ai-es ter-'er
water-ABS flow-VRB
"Water flows"

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

Examples:

• ter-’er “to flow” (See: Water Features)
• thren-’er “to watch” (See: Sacred Terms)
• ward-’er “to guide”

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-VRB
"The known peak is sacred"

kel-es ka-mar-'er
sky-ABS ADJ-red-VRB
"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 {#morphological-mood}

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

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.PROX.DIR.ANIM-ABS guide.VOL
"I am willing to guide"

# Transitive
'al'isel threnarm tores
person.PROX.DIR.ANIM-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

The desiderative suffix -nat (< nater “desire, intended course”) marks desire or intention. Nater is historically from lexicalized *nateru, itself from *naru teru “action-flow, course of action.” This early fusion gives the semantic shift time to settle: “course of action” > “intended course” > “desired outcome” > “desire.” It later reanalyzed as nat-’er, allowing the stem nat to grammaticalize as a suffix. It replaces the verbalizer -’er and preserves the transitivity of the base verb:

1. With intransitive verbs:

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

2. With transitive verbs:

   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.

The related form gnater first fills the “correct flow, fitting course” space from gnar “yes; correct” + ter “flow.” Because it is close in shape and meaning to nater, it can also overlap with desire or intention in contexts of fitting, proper, or rightful desire. The productive suffix -nat derives from nater, not from gnater.

Spatial Case System

Early Hick spatial case suffixes mark direction, source, path, position, and spatially understood state change. They attach to the noun phrase naming the place, source, goal, path, or resulting state, and they usually do not take the verbalizer -’er in productive spatial-case phrases.

Marker	Gloss	Summary
-las	ILL	inward, into
-imris	ELL	outward, from
-itar	SUPE / SALL	on/upon/above; onto/up onto in motion contexts
-esp	SUBE	under, below
-asam	SUBL	downward, onto a lower surface

See also: Spatial Cases.

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

2. Change of State

   1. Translative (-sim):

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

3. Notes:

   • No bare attributive modification by property roots
   • Attributive description uses ka- derived forms
   • All qualities are verbal predicates
   • Follows ergative-absolutive alignment
   • Causatives marked by adding ergative agent

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:

Derivational Morphology

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)

Derivational Negation

See Negation System for the full sentence-level discussion. In derivational morphology, Early Hick keeps three related but distinct word-building patterns:

• mo- forms ordinary negative stems: mo-thral “non-sacred, profane”, mo-ter “not flowing, stagnant”, mo-ward “misdirect, lead astray”
• im forms older moral or qualitative compounds meaning “evil, harmful, improper”; compounds with harmful or improper meanings usually reflect this pattern, not the newer privative one
• western Seneran privative im- forms regional “without, lacking” compounds, especially in fossilized landscape terms such as im-tel-mal “without-end-pool” → imtelmal “ocean, outer sea”

Case-Lexicalized Directional Stems

Spatial case can fossilize into derivational morphology. In these forms, an older ROOT-CASE phrase is no longer interpreted only as a case-marked phrase, but as a lexical stem with its own meaning. The original directional force remains visible:

• -imris often externalizes, emits, gives, teaches, or brings something out
• -las often receives, enters, internalizes, or comes into a state

tag-imris → tagimris
hand-ELL
"give"

tag-las → taglas
hand-ILL
"take, receive"

'ilis-imris → 'ilisimris
knowledge-ELL
"teach"

These stems stand between ordinary case marking and ordinary verbal derivation. As lexical stems, they can appear bare in nominal, dependent, or proverbial contexts. When used as fully finite ordinary verbs, they may take the verbalizer -’er, especially when speakers still parse them as derived stems.

This differs from productive spatial case marking. A phrase such as rismater-las “into the reed boat” remains a case-marked noun phrase and does not take -’er. Only when ROOT-CASE has been lexicalized as a directional stem can the whole stem later take verbal morphology.

This pattern is especially visible in sacred and abstract vocabulary. The transparent ritual phrase thrallas derives from thral-las “into sacred light.” In maxims, it can describe truth, insight, or blessing as entering divine illumination. The later lexicalized form thralas simplifies the boundary and comes to mean “divine revelation, sacred illumination.” This is not a syntactic passive. Rather, the subject is conceptualized as entering the state or place named by the directional phrase.

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

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

BASE-VRB’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

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-VRB”)

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

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

Basic Template

1. Root Structure

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

2. Order of Elements

(NEG)-(PLURAL/PART/NUM-PART)-(SIZE)-ROOT-(AGENT)-(DEM)-(CASE)

Adjectival ka- usually derives a describing form from its own root, rather than stacking inside the numbered noun phrase. The derived describing form then stands before the noun phrase it modifies:

Negative descriptive forms use the same outer-prefix logic. When mo- negates a ka- derived form, it appears outside ka-:

This does not make ka- an ordinary part of the counted noun-head template above. It is a derived describing form that can itself be negated.

One possible colloquial development would compress recoverable phrases by placing ma- before a ka- derived form:

Examples:

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

Prefix Classes

1. Outer Prefixes (first position)

   • mo- (NEG): negation

2. Second Position

   • ma- (PL): plural
   • ran- (PART): partitive
   • telran- (EXCL.PART): exclusive partitive

3. Third Position

   • ka- (ADJ): adjectivizer
     • Usually forms a separate describing form before the noun phrase
     • Possible, non-canonical colloquial compression may show ma-ka-ROOT

4. Inner Prefixes (closest to root)

   • ano- (HON): honorific or majestic intensifier
   • tor- (AUG): augmentative
   • li- (DIM): diminutive

Suffix Classes

1. Inner Suffixes (closer to root)

   • -’er (VRB): verbalizer (See: Verbal Morphology)
   • -arm (VOL): volitional (See: Morphological Mood)
   • -nat (DES): desiderative (See: Morphological Mood)
   • -ok (AGENT): agentive (See: Agentive Marking)

2. Demonstrative Suffixes (before case)

   • -is / -’is (PROX): proximal demonstrative
   • -en / -tan (MED): visible or known medial demonstrative
   • -eth / -thir (MED.INDIR): hidden, inferred, or indirectly sensed medial demonstrative
   • -um / -rum (DIST): distant or general demonstrative

3. Outer Suffixes (final position)

   • -el (ERG): ergative case
   • -es (ABS): absolutive case
   • -imris (ELL): ellative case (“from”)
   • -las (ILL): illative case (“into”)
   • -itar (SUPE/SALL): superessive / surface-allative case (“upon/onto”)
   • -esp (SUBE): subessive case (“under”)
   • -asam (SUBL): sublative case (“downward, onto a lower surface”)
   • -sim (TRANS): translative case (“becomes”)

   See: Spatial Cases

Restrictions

1. Co-occurrence

   • Only one prefix from each position class
   • Maximum of one case suffix
   • Demonstrative suffixes precede final case suffixes
   • 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)