INFLEXION AND CONSTRUCTION OF WOKDS. 



21 



4. Wlien. the objective pronoun is followed by the relative ti, tvlu) or which / as, 

 mo ri oq ti o de (I smo himioho he came), I saw him xolio came ; mo fe awoq ti o 

 fe emi, I love tlwm who love me. Nwoi) is not used in this case. 



5. The full form is frequently employed because it is more agreeable to the ear ; 

 as, mo fe awoq ti o fe emi, I love them tvho love me. 



§ 88. As the objective pronouns are generally governed by a preceding word to 

 which they are closely attached in pronunciation, the contracted forms are, for the 

 most part, made by eliding the initial vowel of the pronoun, so that it may be more 

 closely joined to the governing word. On these forms the following observations 

 are to be made : 



1. "We occasionally hear e for o, tliee ; as, mo ri e, I see you. This is a con- 

 traction of the pronoun of the second person plural, which, as with us, is often used 

 instead of the singular by way of politeness. 



2. a. Reasoning from analogy, we may assume that the original contracted form 

 of the third person singular, was 'o,' like the nominative; but as this vowel 

 becomes perfectly assimilated to the final vowel of the governing verb or pre- 

 position, it assumes in turn all the forms of these vowels ; as, mo r^ a, I bought it • 

 mo se e, I did it / mo ri i, I saw it ' fu u, to it, &g. 



b. The objectives, S, e, 6, i, o, 8, and u, have no accent, and scarcely any per- 

 ceptible quantity, especially when they follow a sharp vowel. The practised ear 

 can discover, however, that they slightly sharpen the preceding vowel. Thus, mo 

 ri i, J see it, is pronounced mo ri ; and mo m6 6, / know him, is pronounced, as 

 nearly as signs can represent it, mo m6'. 



POSSESSIVES. 



§ 89. As the pronouns when used to indicate possession are closely attached to 

 a preceding noun, they assume the same contracted forms as the objectives ; the 

 only difference is that ' r^ ' is employed as the possessive of the second and third 

 persons singular. 



§ 90. The full or primary forms are employed as possessives only Avhen the rela- 

 tion of possession is expressed by the preposition ti, of (see §131,2); as, iwe ti emi 

 {booh of me), my boolc' iwe ni ti emi {book it4s of me), it is my book. 



§ 91. 1. Frequently, however, the relation of possession is indicated simply by 

 placing the pronoun immediately after the noun (see § 131, 1), and then the con- 

 tracted form is employed ; as, iwe mi {l>ook of me), my hook ; iwe re {book, of thee 

 or hhri), tliy book or his book. 



