24 ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



{this itris lie did it), this person did it / ognd 11 o wi i (that it-is lie said it), that 

 person said it ' iwogyi mo, tliese hwio. 



2. 'Oqnd' and 'awoqnd' are emphatic; as, awoqnd ni mo ri (tliose it-is I saw), 

 I saw tlmse very persons, or themselves. 



DEFINITE ARTICLE. 



§ 106. The demonstratives nd and ni, tJmt, and the substantive pronoun eyi, this, 

 frequently have the force of the definite article. 



§ 107. Nd is always equivalent to the English demonstrative that, although in 

 some cases it may' be rendered by the article the ; as, okoqri nd ti o de lana, tJie 

 inrni who ca/rtie yesterday. 



§ 108. Ni is scarcely used as a demonstrative, and is more nearly equivalent to 

 the article ; as, d ri odo nld ni, we saxo tlie great river ; oba ni li o wi i (hing tJie it- 

 is that said it), the hing said it. In the use of ni we observe two peculiarities. 



1. It is employed in connexion with kar), one, which is used to indicate sin- 

 gularity ; as, omode kaq ni li o se e, the child did it. 



2. It frequently qualifies a phrase or sentence; as, ile qdzo ni, tliere is a Iwuse an 

 fire; baloguq med^i, ti o 16h oguq nd ni, ko huwa re, two generals, xolw we)it to tliat 

 war, did not hehave well. In these and all similar examples 'ni' may be rendered 

 by it is. 



§ 109. Eyi, this, is employed as a definite article, before the noun, in speaking 

 of one among a plurality of things previously mentioned. Thus in Luke 15. 12, 

 after mentioning the two sons, we have the phrase ' eyi aburo,' the yownger. 



The Relative Protunm. 



§ 110. The relative ti, w/w or which, is applied to both persons and things, and 

 is not varied to indicate gender, number, or case. Hence, as is the case, for instance, 

 with the uninflected Hebrew relative, a pereonal pronoun is often employed in 

 connexion with it to indicate the number and person which the relative would have 

 if inflected. 



§ 111. 1. a. When employed as the subject of a relative clause, or in what may 

 be called the nominative case, ti is usually followed by o or o, Jie, site' it, which is 

 used in a general way for all numbers and persons ; as, awa ti o ri, we who see ; 

 iwo ti o ko, thou who learnest. 



h. When the verb of the relative clause begins with 'm,' 'n,' or 'ij,' either as an 

 auxiliary particle or as a component part of the verb, the ' o ' or ' o ' is usually 

 omitted ; as, iwo ti qsoro, thou who art speahing / awa ti mbe, we wlio are. 



2. Frequently, however, instead of ' o ' or ' o,' a pronoun is used, agreeing in 

 person and number with the antecedent ; as, enia ti awoq ^e G (person who tliey did 

 it), tlie people wlio did it; emi ti mo m6 ( I who ITcnow), I who Icnow. 



3. It being regarded as sufiicient if the plurality of the antecedent is once 

 expressed, the same thing may be said in several difterent ways. Thus the sen- 

 tence, he slew his sons tvJio rebelled, may be expressed in Yoruba either by, 6 kpa 

 awoq omo rh ti o sote (lit. ?ie slew tJtem son of him wTio lie rebelled) ; or by, 6 kpa 

 omo r^ awoq ti o sote ( he sleio son of him they wlio lie rebelled) ; or else by, 6 kpa 

 omo re ti nwoq soto {he sleio son of Jtim who they rebelled). 



