Hao (Hagu)

Stick, twig, narrow branch (cut down and) used for firewood, brushwood. Known as Paluka, red whortleberry, until 1970. See Halu and Pinu. See also Hagudi. But… Given Estonian’s uneven relationship with aspirates, Ao, for pre-dawn light or dawn, raises interesting parallels in the sense of beginnings. Close to this, other FU language cognates suggest weak, insipid (and hence easily exploited) trees: Veps hago: windbreak; Votic hako: weathered tree; Ludian hago, flawed tree… (beware, I have an agenda!). And with Estonian borrowing Finnish hakeri, designating a sorry state of a home, as hagerik, a sort of poor man’s lean-to, and the word’s proximity to hakkama, to start, we’re getting a sense of primeval colonisation of place. This is the cusp of history and civilization. And could be completely wrong.