INFLl<:.\IOiSr AND CONSTltUC'lTON OK WOKDS. 41 



§ 178. This verl), which denotes existence hi a ■^iate or cniidUioit^ is nearly obso- 

 lete except in composition ; as, 6 yadi, he is dinnh^ lit. yA odi, is a (hnnli 2>ermii. 



si. 



§ 179. This verlj, denoting existence in a place^ is chiefly used in negative sen- 

 tences ; as, ko si owo, or owo ko si, ihere is no money. 



2. The only instance in which 'si' is used without a negative, is in the phrase 

 6 si r)kaq (// is a thing)^ there is something the matter^ said in I'eply to the qnes- 

 tion kfi si qkar) ? (^not is a thinej)^ is not something tire matter ^ 



§ 180. Ri denotes a mode of existence, and is always employed in connexion 

 with such words as behe, so^ thus ; bi, as ; bi . . . ti, lioio.^ tfec. ; as, behe li 6 ri {so 

 it-is it is), so it is ; bi 6 ti ri, how is it ? 



§ 181. The original of 'ri' is doubtful; but it may be ri, to see, employed in tlie 

 sense of to appear, to seem.. 



ni or li. 



§ 182. 'Ni,' whether employed as a verb, pronoun, or preposition, usually 

 becomes ' li ' before a vowel ; as, li ori, on the top. But this change does not 

 generally take place before the combinations id^, igb, ih, ik, ikp, il, and in ; as, ni 

 i<\ze, for food ; ni igba, at the time ; ni ika, tohave crueltij, to he cruel; ni ikpa, in 

 the path / ni ile, in the house ; ni ino, in the inside. 



§ 183. The substantive verb 'ni' or 'li' appears to be the demonstrative 'ni' 

 employed as a copula, in like manner with the jDersonal pronouns of the third 

 person in the Aramaic languages. The pronominal origin of the word is shown by 

 the fact that in many cases it is equivalent to it is ; as, tani ni ? who is it? emi ni, 

 it is I ; awa li o se e, %oe it is that did it. In other cases it may be rendered 

 simply by the verb to he ; as, tani ni babd re ? iclio is tlnj father ? obali iwo, thou 

 art a Icing. 



§ 184. 'Ni' or 'li' is frequently employed pleonastically : 



1. For the purpose of making a proposition emphatic or definite ; as, emi ni ri 

 (/ it-is see), I see ; emi li o ri (/ am that saw), I saw. (See § 18.5, 1.) 



2. Before nouns following verbs of naming, calling, &c. ; as, nwoij so oruko re li 

 Alaidzu, thei/ called Jiis name Alaidzu (lit. to be Alaidzu) ; a kpe wor) li ole, 

 we called them thieves. 



3. After an objective placed emphatically at tlie beginning of a sentence ; 

 as, malii li d kpa (coio it-is we killed), we killed a cow. And in like man- 

 ner after adverbs and adverbial phrases ; as, behe li 6 wi (so if-i\ he said), he 

 said so. 



§ 185. AVhen ' ni ' is used pleonastically, it is frequently followed by a personal 

 pronoun of the third person singular employed relatively : 



(■) 



