Handy Handbook of Hilichurlian

A practical quick handbook of Hilichurlian by folklorist Ella Musk—though its reliability still needs real-world checking.

Dedicated to my granddaughter who will one day inherit the name "Ella." She will probably be the dimmest of mind in our family history—and yet the cutest Ella Musk.

This handbook can only offer simple help for situations where you urgently need to talk with hilichurls (the book itself cannot be held responsible for outcomes—for reference only).

If your goal is to learn Hilichurlian properly, please use formal materials—such as my next introductory work.

Greetings and manners:

【Da / Dada】 1. Good / very good. 2. An indifferent chat response, like "Ah, fine." 3. Very / extremely / most.

Tip: Dada upa means a very high / big mountain.

【lka ya / lka yaya / Ya ika / Yaya ika】 1. A bad person / bad people!

Tip: When hilichurls shout this, if you are confident, thrash them—otherwise run.

【Muhe】 1. Like, want.

Tip: You will basically never hear a hilichurl say it likes you, so most of the time treat it as "wants."

Practical vocabulary:

【Gusha】 1. Plants, grass, fruit. Things they dislike.

Tip: Mosi gusha, besides "eat grass," also expresses unhappiness.

But if a hilichurl says Gusha to you, you can only judge from tone whether it really wants fruit, rice, wheat—or is just dissatisfied.

【Mita】 1. Meat, tasty things. Things they like.

Tip: In movo lata mita / Mita in movo lata / Mita movo lata Means meat in the water. Even little Ella of the future can guess what that is.

【Upano】 1. Hard to explain—see the tip.

Tip: Built from "above," "high," "fly," plus a noun suffix: may mean flying insects, birds, clouds, recon knights, small companions knocked flying by big hilichurls… hard to pin down.

【Celi】 1. Hot. Hot things. Fire. 2. Sometimes "sun"—Celi Upa without Upa can also mean the sun alone.

Tip: A strange figure of speech is Celi lata—cold and hot at once. Usually things that glow but do not heat, e.g. Celi lata gusha (small lamp grass), or Celi lata (fireflies / stars / the moon).

【Kucha gusha / Unu gusha】 1. Seed.

Tip: Hard to believe I list this. Hilichurls have no real farming, but they store seeds and sometimes, when in a good mood, bury them anywhere. Kucha is "small" with contempt; Unu is the number one, the hilichurl divinity, and a sacred word for the primordial. Both can name a seed—fascinating.

By the way, two is Du, three is Unu Du, four is Dudu. So guess what five is?

Correct answer: Mani—also meaning hand and labor.

【Sada】 1. Solid, hard.

Tip: In Hilichurlian, Upa Sada can mean ready to do something.

【Boya】 1. Forms colors with other words.

Tip: From my tests, roughly: Celi boya red, Gusha boya green, Lata boya blue, Nini boya white, Nunu boya / Sama boya black, Unu boya yellow.

Time and direction:

【Aba mosi dada】 1. From waking until before lunch.

【Unta mosi dada】 1. The fine hours from after lunch until before sunset.

【Mosi aba nunu】 1. From after sunset into deep night.

【Unta nunu】 1. Deep night.

【Du ya zido dala？】 1. Where is this thing?

Tip: After much thought I decided not to teach absolute direction words here. Hilichurls have no absolute directions—only front/back/left/right—and their answer depends on how they feel about you: if friendly, from your viewpoint; if not, from their own.

Best method: take a map, ask this sentence, and have them point.