Causality in Hajec
Hajec is the often forgotten sister of Old SumrĆ« and Old Tuura, the runt of the family, having gone extinct and leaving no descendants behind. Hajec is the most conservative of the Proto-Sumric daughters as it diverged from Early Proto-Sumric whereas Old SumrĆ« and Old Tuura diverged from Late Proto-Sumric and share innovations such as umlaut. However even in Hajec we can observe interesting changes. In this post weāll look at the various words forĀ ābecauseā in Hajec.Ā
Early on in Hajec there were many ways to mark causality, often with expressive phrases to mark very specific instances ofĀ ābecauseā. At this point they could be analysed as discourse particles rather than conjunctions. Iāll list them here:Ā
easnuzoĢØzĀ āthat which emerges from jealousyā - when an action was done because of the subjectās jealousy. From easu-Ā āthat which emerges fromā + zoĢØzĀ ājealousyā.Ā
tsioest ilasf napfo easnuzoĢØz
refuse-3S.ANIM.PST submit king-DAT.ANIM that emerger-jealousy
āhe refused to submit to the king because he was jealous (of him)ā
kitisĀ āwith intimidationā - when an action was done because the subject was forced to or had no choice in the matter. From k-Ā āsupine prefixā + itĀ āto intimidateā + -isĀ āwithā.Ā
ilasfest napfo kitis
submit-3S.ANIM.PST king-DAT.ANIM SUP-intimidate-with
āhe submited to the king because he was forced to to
kativokoĢis jirtĀ āwith imitation uponā - when an action was done because someone or something else had already done it. From kativokoĢisĀ āimitationā (from k-Ā āsupine prefix + ativokoĢĀ āto intimidateā + -isĀ āwithā) + jirtĀ āuponā.Ā
ilasfest napfo kativokoĢis jirt klesmir
submit-3S.ANIM.PST king-DAT SUP-imitate-with upon friend-3S.POSS
āhe submitted to the king because his friend did so (also)ā
įø„veĢrisĀ āwith the opinionā - when the subject did the action because he thought that he should. From įø„veĢrĀ āopinionā + -isĀ āwithā.Ā
ilasfest napfo įø„veĢrisĀ
submit-3S.ANIM.PST king-DAT opinion-with
āhe submitted to the king because he thought that he should haveā
vexil ezveteĢrĀ āout of the mistā - used as a generalĀ ābecauseā. From vexilĀ āout ofā + ezveteĢrĀ āthe mistā.Ā
ilasfest napfo vexil ezveteĢr vraĢoĢvestsaĢt ilasf
submit-3S.ANIM.PST king-DAT out of DEF/mist want-3S.ANIM.PST=SUB sumbit
āhe submitted to the king because he wanted toā
exskiĢØĢjiĀ āfrom the seedā - Also used as a general ābecauseā. From exskiĢØĀ āseedā + -jiĀ āfromā.Ā
ilafest napfo exskiĢĢØji vraĢoĢvest ilasf
submit-3S.ANIM.PST king-DAT DEF/seed-from want-3S.ANIM.PST submit
āhe submitted to the king because he wanted toā
Later on in Hajec each of the above become causal conjunctions which always followed the verb. However the conjunction exskiĢĢØji fell out of everyday use and survived only in flowery speech. vexil ezveteĢr became lez which was the default causal conjunction. KativokoĢis jirt becameĀ koĢisjirt,Ā a causal conjunction for an action that someone else did or an action done in revenge or retaliation. Kitis became a conjunction for a verb where the subject was forced to do it, but also as a discourse particle insinuiting disapproval.Ā EasnuzoĢØz became restricted to stories of romance where a subject done something out of love or infatuation.Ā
