14 • ETYMOLOGY ANB SYNTAX. 



§ 52. 1. The vowels, a, e, &c., prefixed to li or ni, to have^ form the prefixes al, 

 el, el, ol, ol, &c., which form nouns of possession from other nouns ; as, alaso, the 

 owner of doth, a dealer in cloth (from a^o, cloth^ ; elesiq, the owner of a liorse, 

 a horseman (from c^ii), a horse) ; oloti, the oioner of ale, a dealer in ale (from 

 oti, ale). 



2. Since the performer of an action may be regarded as its possessor, nouns of 

 this form frequently denote the actor or agent ; as, al^bo, a defender (from abo, 

 defence) ; elegbe, a helper (from egbe, help) ; el^se, a sinner (from ^se, sin) ; olore, 

 a benefactor (from ore, a favor) ; olore, a giver (from ore, a gift). 



3. Occasionally we have the form olu, by § 16,3 ; as, oluwa (oil iw&, he who lias 

 life), a lord i olusc (ise, tvovTc), a lahorer. 



4. a. The vowel prefixed to '1' must be the same as the initial vowel of the 

 noun which takes the prefix, according to the principle of euphonic concord 

 (§ 13, 2), as seen in the examples given above. But the jirefix '11' is never used; 

 and hence, when a prefix is required for a jioun beginning with ' i,' it is customary 

 to employ ' on ' ; as, onibu, that which has breadth, which is broad (fi-om ibu, breadth) ; 

 onigb^gbo, a believer (from igb^gbo, belief). 



b. Sometimes it is more agreeable to the ear to substitute ' ol ' for ' on ' ; as, olifa, 

 tJiat which is profitcd)le (from \i'A,profii). But in such cases it is usual for the final 

 'i ' of oli, and the initial ' i' of the noun to be changed into ' u.' (See § 52, 3.) 



5. a. By exchanging the initial vowel of these prefixes for 'ai,' they become 

 negative. Thus, elese, a sinner, becomes ailese, one wlio is sinless ; olomo, one wlw 

 lias a child, ailomo, tvJw is childless ; aMgbdra, %olio is strong, aiMgbdra, who is not 

 strong. 



b. Frequently the prefix ' al ' is employed before negative nouns ; as, aiko, the state 

 of being ^mlearned (from ko, to Uarn), alaiko, o^ie xoho is unlearned; aise, shv- 

 hssness, alaise, he wlw is sinless; aidd, wicreatedness, alaid^ which is not cre- 

 ated, tohich has no existence. 



Nouns formed hy Reduplication. 



§ 53. Nouns are formed from verbs by reduplicating the first syllable of the 

 verb; as, didara, goodness (from dara, to be good)', kpikp6, duration (from kp^, to 

 stay, to continue). The vowel of the reduplicated syllable is changed into ' i,' as in 

 the above examples, except that occasionally 'u' is not changed; as, giguq or 

 gugur), length (from guq, to be long). 



§ 54. Nouns formed by reduplication from active transitive verbs have both an 

 active and a passive signification ; as, tit^, a selling, also, that which is sold or to be 

 sold (from t^, to sell) : e. g. tit^ ki ise bibu, selling is not giving ; aso tita, cloth to sell. 



§ 55. A few inelegant nouns are formed by reduplicating the entire vei-b ; as, 

 kpedzakpedza, a fisherman (from kpedi;a, to Mil fish). . Either akped^a or oni- 

 kpedza is preferable to the reduplicated form. 



§ 56. Nouns are formed by redupHcating a noun and inserting ki, li, ri, de, or iyi, 

 usually with an elision of the final vowel of the particle, as follows : 



1. a. Ki has the sense of any or wlmtever ; v^, eiyekoiyo, any bird wlmtever 

 (from eiye) : e. g. d 6 ri eiyekeiye, we saio no birds whatever ; eiyokoiyc a to, any 

 bird will do (a to, icill sufiice). 



