INFLEXION AND CONSTRUCTION OF WORDS. 



21 



4. "VVlieu the objective pronoun is followed by the relative ti, lolio or ivldcli ; as, 

 mo ri oq ti o de (I saw hiimvlio he came), I saiu him who came ; mo fe awoi) tl o 

 fe emi, Ilove ihem who love om. Nwoq is not used in this case. 



5. The full form is frequently employed because it is more agreeable to the ear ; 

 as, mo fe awoi) ti o fe emi, Ilove them tvho love me. 



§ 88. As the objective pronouns are generally governed by a preceding word to 

 which they are closely attached in pronunciation, the contracted forms are, for the 

 most part, made by eliding the initial vowel of the pronoun, so that it may be more 

 closely joined to the governing word. On these forms the following observations 

 are to be made : 



1. We occasionally hear e for o, thee; as, mo ri e, / see ijou. This is a con- 

 traction of the pronoun of the second person plural, which, as with us, is often used 

 instead of the singular by way of politeness. 



2. a. Keasoning from analogy, Ave may assume that the original contracted form 

 of the third person singular, was ' o,' like the nominative ; but as this vowel 

 becomes perfectly assimilated to the final vowel of the governing verb or pre- 

 position, it assumes in turn all the forms of these vowels ; as, mo rh a, Ihovght it ; 

 mo se e, I did it ; mo ri i, I saw it ; fu ii, to it, &c. 



h. The objectives, a, e, ?, i, 8, 8, and u, have no accent, and scarcely any per- 

 ceptil)le quantity, especially when they follow a sharp vowel. The practised ear 

 can discover, however, that they slightly sharpen the preceding vowel. Thus, mo 

 ri i, I see it, is pronounced mo ri ; and mo m5 o, / hnow him, is pronounced, as 

 nearly as signs can represent it, mo mo'. 



POSSESSIVES. 



§ 89. As the pronouns when used to indicate possession are closely attached to 

 a preceding noun, they assume the same contracted forms as the objectives ; the 

 only difterence is that ' re ' is employed as the possessive of the second and third 

 persons singular. 



§ 90. The full or primary forms are employed as possessives only when the rela- 

 tion of possession is expressed by the preposition ti, of (see § 131, 2) ; as, iwe ti emi 

 (J)ooh of me), my booh; iwe ni ti emi (booh it-is of me), it is my booh. 



§ 91. 1. Frequently, however, the relation of possession is indicated simply by 

 placing the pronoun immediately after the noun (see § 131, 1), and then the con- 

 tracted form is employed ; as, iwe mi (booh of uie), my booh ; iwe r^ (booh of thee 

 or him), thy booh or 7ds booh. 



