26 ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



2. As an indefinite pronoun ; as, emi mi) taui 6 lii, I know whom he struck. 



In the Egba dialect, before the auxiliary particle 'i),' 'ta' is sometimes omitted, and Mi' only is 

 employed ; as, li i)kp5 ml ? who is callinf; me ? 



3. Tani is equivalent to a possessive in various constructions : 



a. After the name of the thing possessed ; as, ilu tani i]dzo ? {lionse of lohom 

 is-lurning ?) whose Iwuse is hurning ? At the option of the speaker, ti, of, may be 

 inserted before tani ; as, ile ti tani qdzo ? 



b. The same thing may be expressed by tani ? ^vho ? and ni, to have or oum, with 

 ti, tvhich, following the name of the thing possessed; as, tani ni ile ti i)dzo? {tvho 

 Iwiise which is-biirning), whose hoxise is-hirning ? 



§ 119. The relative 'ti' is employed as an interrogative in the sense oiwhat? 



1. Ti alone is used; as, erai 6 ti se? {I shall what do), what shall Ida? eqyiq 

 6 ti se m5 ? {ije ivill what do to-hnoio), Iwio will ye hiow ? 



2. Very often bi, as, is employed as a complement to 'ti'; in which case 'bi' 

 precedes the subject of the verb; as, bi emi ti i]se? (as I what am-doing), rohat 

 am I doing f bi iwo ti se mo ? {as thou what dost to-hnmv), hmv dost thou know f 



§ 120. The particle or pronoun 'e,' which the natives regard as a contraction of 

 eyi, this, is used for what in the expression, e se? {what is it), what is the matter? 

 whyf or, e ti se, which has the same meaning. 



§ 121. Ki? \ohatf which? is also combined with ni or li, that, and is used as 

 follows : 



1. As an interrogative pronoun; as, kini? or kini ni? \oluit is it? kill 6 i)se? 

 xohat is he doing ? uitori kini iwo qkigbe ? {for what tliou art-bawling'), why art 

 thou bawling? lati kini 6 de? {from lohat it came), from what did it arise? 



2. It is also employed as an indefinite pronoun; as, emi mo kUi 6 se, I know 

 what he did. 



3. When inserted between the parts of a reduplicated noun ' ki ' has the force 

 oi whatever ; as, ile ki ile, or ilekile, any house tvhatever (§ 5G, 1, «). 



§ 122. 1. Wo? which? what? is an adjective pronoun, attached interrogatively 

 to nouns ; as, ilo wo li 6 rA ? {house which is-it he bought), which house did he buy ? 

 hma. wo li o fe ota re ? (jyerson what is-it he loves enemy his), what mem loves his 

 enemy ? 



2. a. Ewo ? formed by prefixing ' c ' to ' wo,' is a substantive pronoun ; as, ewo 

 ti o dara ? {tvhkh that it is-good), which, or tohich one, is good ? emi o mo ewo ! I do 

 not knoto which ! 



b. Ewo is employed as an indefinite pronoun ; as, bere ewo li 6 fe {ask which it-is 

 hetvants'), inquire ujhich he wants. 



In the Egba dialect 'si' and ' yisl' are sometimes employed as substitutes for 'wo' and 'ewo' ; as, ni 

 idio si 6 de ? on what day did he come ? yisi 6 gba ? which did he take ? 



