44 ETVJIOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



§ 197. There are two metliods of indicating that a nonn is plural : 



1. By employing the personal pronoun awoi], tltey^ l>efore the noun ; as, awoi} 

 Imale fe ogur), the Moliammedans love war ; <i 6 ri awoi] esiq, we did not see tJie 

 horses ; budi;oko awoq elegaq, tlie seat of the scornful. 



When two or moi-c plural liouns in tliis construction arc connected by a conjunction, 'awoij' is repeated 

 before each of them ; as, awoy alagbara, awpi) ologboi), ati aw9i) olododo, the jioioerfid, the wise, and the 

 righteous. But 'awoij' is not employed unless it is really necessary to indicate plurality. Thus in the 

 general proposition, aragbani logboq, the ancients ivcre wise, it is dispensed with, because we naturally infer 

 that the noun is used collectively. 



2. "When the idea of reciprocity or of repetition is connected with that of plura- 

 lity, the two ideas are indicated by reduplication. 



a. The ideas of reciprocity and plurality are occasionally expressed by redupli- 

 cation and a copulative conjunction ; as, ore oi) ore ki iba ara woq dza (friend and 

 friend not with self their fight), friends do not fight with each other. 



h. Repetition and plurality are indicated by simple reduplication ; as, bit ikoq- 

 wo ikoqwo eru {talce handful after handful of ashes), take handfids of ashes ; eiye 

 eiye mbe uibe (bird Urd is there), lirds are there, i. e. in flocks. 



c. In tlie numerals plurality is indicated by reduplicating the first portion ; as, 

 egbegberuq, thousands, or thousands on thousands; ogogoruij, hundreds, many 

 hundreds. 



Case. 



§ 198. There is no inflexion of the Yoruba noun to indicate case. The relations, 

 however, in which a noun may stand to the other Avords in a sentence are denoted 

 in various ways. 



§ 199. The subject of the proposition, ov nominative, is always jilaced before the 

 verb ; as, esiq sare, the horse runs. To this rule there is no exception. 



§ 200. The usage in regard to the vocative is various : 



1. In calling to a person at a distance, the particle ' o ' is often employed after 

 the noun ; as, omode o ! O child f 



2. If the person addressed is not far off, the speaker uses mi, that ; as, okoqri nd 

 wAh, man, come. 



3. In addressing one who is cpiite near to the speaker, the demonstrative yi, this, 

 is frequently employed ; as, omode yi, kuro ! child, get out of the way ! 



4. Usually, however, the name of the person addressed receives no addition ; as, 

 omode, to mi wdh, child, come to me ; eqyir) Yoruba, gl)o ti emi (^ije Yornlas, hear 

 the words of me), ye Yonihas, hear me. 



§ 201. The position of the ohjective depends on the character of the sentence: 



1. It usually follows the governing word; as, mo ri oba, I saw the hing ; dii) 

 tikara fu baba, hahe bread for father. 



2. In cases of emphasis, however, the olyective precedes the governing word ; as, 

 erai) ki a di? (meat that we fry), shall I fry meat? obo ri ! see the haloon ! 6x) li 

 d wi fu (him if -is ve spoke to), we told him. 



