FOKMATION OF WORDS. 13 



/////■■y/, from ghe, to he dnj. Before a dental consonant, the nasal 'q ' is changed to 

 ' n ' ; as, onde, a primncr, from de, to bind. In one case ' oq ' becomes ' am ' in the 

 Iketu dialect, and 'oi' in Yoruba: viz. amb6, oib6, a white man^ from bo, to fed* 

 Hence, orombo (oro ambo), tlie white mmi^s fruity the usual name of the orange ; 

 and okpaimbo (okpe ambo), tlie white man^s palm., that is, a pine-apple. 



§ 43. The prefix ' ai ' (composed of ' a ' and ' i,' not^., and its equivalent ' e,' are 

 attached to verbs to form nouns of a negative meaning; as, aimt), or emo, that 

 tvhich is unhnoivn or imumal, a monster ; aidze, tliat which is not eaten or must 

 not le eaten. Roots with this prefix are also used imperatively ; as, aiwi, do not 

 speaTc, Tceep silence ! 



wait Syllahic PrcJiXi^. 



§ 44. Aba (composed of the prefix ' a ' and ba, to 7neet) is prefixed to verbs to 

 form nouns implying union ; as, abata, a marJcet^lace (lit. aba ita, the meeting of 

 streets) ; abase, a helper (lit. aba se, he who meets one to do something). Aba is 

 sometimes changed into eba ; as, ebado, a shm'e (lit. eba odo, the meeting of the 

 vrnter). 



§ 45. Abi, which signifies leing in a state of\ having., is prefixed to nouns, to form 

 nouns expressing a quality, endowment, or condition ; as, abiye (abi iye), that which 

 has feathers; abara (abi ara), that xohich has a hody, e.g. agaliti abara yiyi, the 

 lizard which has a hody of roughness., i. e. a rough hody. 



§ 46. Abu is sometimes a derivative from bu, to give; as, abuso, afalseho(kl (lit. 

 abu iso, the giving of talF). In other cases abu is equivalent to abi ; as, aburo, that 

 which stands erect (lit. abi iro, being in a standing p)osture). For the vowel change, 

 see § 16, 3. 



§ 47. 1. Ada (from dd, to make) is prefixed to nouns, to form others implying 

 the cause or result of an action ; as, adalu, a mixture, adidteration (from ada, a 

 mahing, and ilu, a mixing) ; adakpe (ikpe, a ccdling), contraction of words, by 

 elision ; adado (odo, water), an island. 



2. Sometimes the final ' a ',of ada is elided, thus shortening the pi-efix to ' ad ' ; 

 as, adete, a leper, from ete, leprosy ; adogun (oguq, war), that which causes war ; 

 adote (ote, emnity), that ivhicli causes enmity. 



§ 48.''Afi' or 'af (from fi, to make) is prefixed to verbs; as, ^^\k\], a shov\ 

 display (lit. afi, a mahing, htlr), to ap>p>ear). It is also prefixed to nouns when they 

 are followed by verbs; as, afdnahtlq, a guide (lit. a, he, fi, males, ona, a road, 

 \xhr], to appear, i. e. one ivho shows the road). 



§ 49. Am, a contraction of amo, a knowing, he xvho knows, is prefixed to nouns ; 

 as, amero (ero, consideration), a discreet person, discretion ; amoye (oye, ■intel- 

 ligence), an intelligent man. 



§ 50. Ati (probably composed of 'a' and 'i\,\from) is prefixed to verbs to 

 form nouns expressing the abstract idea of the verb ; as, atiri, seeing. 



§ 51. Bu and ibu ai'e formed from ibi, a place ; the final 'i' being changed into 

 ' u' (§ 16, 3). They are prefixed to nouns ; as, budo, or ibudo, a camp (lit. ibi ido, 

 the place of camping) ; budzoko or iltudioko, a seat (il)i id;5;oko, the pAace of sitting). 



* "Wlieii tlie skin of.i ne,i,n-o peels oft", especially after a burn, tlic suvfaee becuines wliite like tlie 

 skiu of a wliite man. Ambo or oibo means, literally, icho is 2xvlecJ. 



