INFLEXION AND CONSTKUCTION OF WORDS. 29 



some point of time expressed or implied in the sentence. It is variously employed 

 as follows : 



1. To express auytliiug that is past at the time of speaking; as, mo* ti ^e e lana 

 {Iliave done it yesterday)^ I did it yesterday ; 6 ti kii, lie is dead ; 6 qti qbo lana, 

 lie tvas coming yesterday ,' aragb^ni ti qsina, the ancients 67'red. 



2. To express what is past in relation to some point of past time ; as, mo ti loh, 

 ki 6 t6 de, Ilmd gone^ hefore he arrived (ki . . . t6, hefore). 



3. To express what will be past before some future point of time ; as, emi 6 ti 

 16h, ki 6 t6 de, I shall have gone^ hefore he arrives. 



4. It is employed indefinitely like the English auxiliary have ; as, mo ti li i 

 nigbakiigba, I have seen huii often. 



§ 131. 1. The origin of the particle 'ti' is doubtful. It is not improbably, 

 however, a modification of t6, to he sufficient.! to attain to., which is sometimes 

 employed as a sort of auxiliary particle ; as, bi omo dagba k t6 li ogboq (if child 

 is-grotvn., it-will attain to-have tvisdom), tohen the child is grow7i, it will get wisdom ; 

 nigband ui nwoq t6 sina (tlien it-is they attainedrto erring^.^ tlien they erred. 



2. The use of 'ti' as a pleonastic particle seems to favor the suspicion that its 

 original is ' to.' 



a. It is sometimes employed pleonastically after prepositions expressing instru- 

 mentality ; as in the general proposition, nikpa ise ow6 ti wdh, hy lahor money 

 comes, lit. attains to., or reaches the point of., coming. 



b. Again, ' ti ' is often thus employed after mdh, ki, ko, or ko, 7iot ; as, mdh ti 

 16h ! i^not arrive-at going), do not go yet ! or) ko le ti so eso (it not is-ahle to-attairi/- 

 to hearing fruit), it cannot hear fruit. 



3. The auxiliary particle ' ti ' coincides with ' t6 ' in accent, but not with any 

 other particle ' ti ' in the language. 



Future Particles. 



§ 132. This particle is the sign of the future tense, and is generally equivalent to 

 shall or ivill. The difference between ' 6 ' and ' o ' is simply euphonic, ' 6 ' being 

 employed before close, and ' 6 ' before open vowels (§ 14). 



§ 133. It is probable that ' 6 ' or ' o ' was originally the personal pronoun 6 or 6, 

 he, she, it. If so, tbe expression emi 6. ri, I shall see, means literally, / am he to- 

 see, or tlutt is to see. 



§ 134. The particle ' 6 ' or ' o ' is frequently preceded in all persons and numbers 

 by the pleonastic pronoun yi, he, she, it i as, iwo yi 6 se e, thoit wilt do it ' awa yi 

 6 ri, loe shall see ; hvo ti yi o se (word 'which it will come-to-pass), a xoord which 

 ■will he fulfilled. (Luke, 1. 20.) ' 



§ 135. This particle may be regarded as an emphatic substitute for 6 or o. It 

 is used as follows : 



* The secondary forms of tlic pronouns, as, mo or mo, /, are more frequently used tlian the longer pri- 

 mary forms. 



