12 ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



beru (ba c;vu), to he afraid., becomes ba . . . loru, to frujldtii ; as, 6 ba mi leru, he 

 fnghtened me. 



3. Sometimes tlie formation of compound transitive verbs is still more com- 

 plicated, as may be seen in the following example. Ba . . . d:^e, as above stated, 

 means to spoil; and ni ino, or nino, means in regard to the mind ; the entire 

 expression, ba . . . nin6 d^e, means to grieve ; as, 6 ba mi nin6 d^e, lie grieves me. 

 The compound here consists of three members, the first and last of which are verbs, 

 and the middle one is composed of a preposition and noun. 



DERIVATION OF NOUNS. 

 With Vowel Prefixes. 



§ 38. Nouns are formed from verbs, both primitive and derivative, by prefixing 

 the pure or nasalized vowels, a, e, e, i, o, o, and oq.* These prefixes (excejDting 

 perhaps the vowel ' i ') are sim|jly variations of the pronoun of the thu-d person, in 

 accordance with the principle of vocalic assimilation already noticed (§ 13). 



§ 39. The primary use of these prefixes apj^ears to have been to form concrete 

 nouns denoting the actor or agent; as, ofe, a parrot (lit. a whistler^ from fe, to 

 whistle) ; akpedza, a fishennan (from kped^a, to I: ill fish?) ; esir), a horse (from siq, 

 to run raindly). But at present, nouns formed Ijy these prefixes have various 

 meanings, being frequently employed to denote : 1, the doer of the action, or agent ; 

 2, the receiver of the action, or jiatient ; 3, the action or state of being ; as, aba 

 (from ba, to meet)., lie who meets., he who is met., or, a meeting ; e&e, sin ; ase, tlie state 

 of sin (from se, to sin). 



§ 40. It is to be observed further that regulai'ly, in accordance witli the law of 

 euphonic concord (§ 13, 2), the vowel prefixed to the verb should be identical 

 with that of the verb itself; as, aba, a meeting ; ese, sin; ofo, loss ; oro, a irord. 

 But if this principle had been adhered to exclusively, only one noun could be 

 derived from each verb ; wherea.sby prefixing difl:erent vowels, there may be several. 

 Thus, from we, to fold., are derived ewe, a leaf ; iwe, a hooh ; owe, a proverb. 



§ 41. The facts in regard to these jireformativ^es, as the practice now stands, 

 may be summed up as follows : 



1. Concrete nouns are formed from all verbs by prefixing ' a ' ; as, aba, a meeter., 

 from ba, to r)ieet. But nouns of this form have vaiious other meanings, as shown 

 above (§ 39). 



2. Nouns denoting an action are formed from all verbs l)y prefixing ' i ' ; as, iba, 

 the act of meeting / ife, love. But sometimes this form has a concrete signification ; 

 as, iMdia, a peace-maher. 



3. The other vowel prefixes, although of frequent occurrence, are not employed 

 before every vei'b. They generally form nouns denoting either the doer, the 

 receiver, or the result of an action ; as, ofi, a loom., from fi, to swing ; esiq, a Jiorse, 

 fromsiq, to rvn; edd, a creature, from dd, to create ; oro, a word, from ro, to utter., 

 to relcde. 



§ 42. The prefix 'oi} ' is not mucli used, but is met with occasionally ; as, (ii;)gbe, 



* Tlic vowels a and u are iiuver (.niiiloycd as lurinative prefixes. 



