INFLEXION AND CONSTRUCTION OF WORDS. 43 



3. Sometimes 'die,' like ' ^e,' appears to mean simply to be; as, emi h mo eiii 

 ti i Aie or i se {1 7iot hnotu him loho he «■), I do not hiow who he is. 



§ 192. lu expressing refusal, ' d:ie ' is more frequently used pleouastically than ' se' 

 (§ 100) ; as, emi o di;e lob, I ivill not go. 



Pleonastic ' Use of Verhs. 



§ 193. In addition to tlie pleonastic uses of verbs wliicli liave already been 

 spoken of, the following are worthy of notice : 



Verbs of going and coining are much employed pleouastically after verbs of 

 motion to or from a ]ilace, and this gives peculiar defiuiteness to the language ; as, 

 6 gbe e lati oko loh, he tooh it from the farm — to some place at a distance from the 

 speaker (which fact is indicated by loh, to go or going) ; 6 gbe e lati oko wdh, he 

 tooh it from tliefarm — and brought it hither (which is indicated by wdh, to come or 

 coming). So, 6 kpada loh (Jie returned going), he went lack; 6 kpada de (lie 

 returned coming)., he came hach. And so, lati isisiyi loh {from noiv going)., hence- 

 forth. 



§ 194. After verbs of giving, ni or 11, to have, is always added ; as, bii mi li omi, 

 give me ivater ; qIoywx] li o fii woq li agbara, God gave tliem poiver. 



NOUNS. 



§ 195. Yoruba nouns are not varied in form to express gender, number, or case ; 

 or in other words, they exhibit no traces of inflexion. 



Gender. 



§ 196. Gender is distinguished only where there is an actual difference of sex, as 

 follows : 



1. By using different words; as, ako, a he-animal, a male, abo, a ■she-ani- 

 mal, a female ; akuko, a cock, agbebo, a hen; oko, a he-goat, ake, a she-goat; 

 6koqri, a man, obiri, a woman; babd, a father, iya, a mother ; and a few 

 others. 



2. By adding to a common term one of the above general expressions in appo- 

 sition. 



a. In the case of animals, by prefixing ako, male, and abo, female ; as, ako malii, 

 a bull, ab6 malu, a coto ; ako esii), a horse, abo esii), a mare. 



b. In the case of persons, by appending the words okoqri, man, and obiri, 

 woman; as, omokoqri (omo okoqri, child man), a man-child, a boy, om6biri (omo 

 6biri), a woman-child, a girl ; iwofa okoqri, a bond-man, iwofa obiri, a bond- 

 woman; egb6r) okoqri, an elder brother, egb()i] obiri, an elder sister ; aburo okoqri, 

 a younger brother, aburo obiri, a younger sister. 



3. By compounding two or more words in construction ; as, bale (oba ile, lord 

 of house), the master of a house, or father of a family ; iyale (iya, mother, mis- 

 tress, ile, house), the mistress of a Jiouse, or mother of a family ; baloguq (oba, 

 lord, li, as to, oguq, zvar), a genercd ; iyalilse (iya, mistress, li, as to, ase, cooking), 

 a female coolc. 



