26 ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



2. As an indefinite pronoun ; as, emi m6 tani 6 lu, ITcnow wlwm Tie struck. 



In the Egba dialect, before the auxiliary particle 'i),' 'ta' is sometimes omitted, and 'li' only is 

 employed ; as, li i)kp6 mi ? who is calling me ? 



3. Tani is equivalent to a possessive in various constructions : 



a. After the name of the thing possessed ; as, ile tani r)di;o ? (Jiouse of whom 

 is-hurning f ) wlwse house is burning f At the option of the speaker, ti, of, may be 

 inserted before tani ; as, ile ti tani gd^o ? 



h. The same thing may be expressed by tani ? xvlio f and ni, to Imve or own^ with 

 ti, ivhich^ following the name of the thing possessed; as, tani ni ile ti qd^o? {who 

 house which is-bu7'ning^^ whose hcmse is-hurning ? 



§ 119. The relative 'ti' is employed as an interrogative in the sense oiwliat? 



1. Ti alone is used; as, emi 6 ti se? {IsJutU what do)^ what shall I do? egyiq 

 6 ti se md ? (ye xvill what do tchhnow)^ luno will ye Tcnow ? 



2. Very often bi, as^ is employed as a complement to ' ti ' ; in which case ' bi ' 

 precedes the subject of the verb; as, bi emi ti qse? {as I what am-doing^, wluxt 

 am I doing ? bi iwo ti se vah ? {as thou what dost to-hiow^^ lunv dost thou hnow f 



§ 120. The particle or pronoun ' e,' which the natives regard as a contraction of 

 eyi, thi^^ is used for what in the expression, e se ? {what is it), what is the matter? 

 why ? or, e ti se, which has the same meaning. 



§ 121. Ki? tvhat? which? is also combined with ni or li, tliat^ and is used /is 

 follows : 



1. As an interrogative pronoun; as, kini? or kini ni? what is it? kill 6 qse? 

 ivhat is lie doing ? nitori kini iwo qkigbe ? {for what thmi, art-lawlin^)^ xvhy art 

 tJu)u bawling? lati kini 6 de? {from tvhat it came)^froni tohat did it arise? 



2. It is also employed as an indefinite pronoun; as, emi mo kill 6 6e, ITcnow 

 xolmt he did. 



3. "When inserted between the parts of a reduplicated noun ' ki ' has the force 

 oi whatever • as, ile ki ile, or ilekile, any house whatever (§,56, 1, a). 



§ 122. 1. Wo? xohich? what? is an adjective pronoun, attached interrogatively 

 to nouns ; as, ile wo li 6 ri ? {house lohicli is-it he bought)^ xohich house did he biiy ? 

 ^nia wo li o fe ota r^ ? {person what is-it he loves enemy his), what nutn loves his 

 en&tny ? 



2. a. Ewo ? formed by prefixing ' e ' to ' wo,' is a substantive pronoun ; as, ewo 

 ti o dara ? (which that it is-good), which, or which one, is good ? emi 6 mb ewo ! I do 

 nx)t hnow which ! 



b. Ewo is employed as an indefinite pronoun ; as, b^re ewo li 6 fe {ash which itris 

 he wants), inquire which he wants. 



In the Egba dialect ' si ' and ' yisi ' are sometimes employed as substitutes for ' wo' and 'ewo ' ; as, ni 

 id^9 si 6 de ? on what day did he come ? yisi 6 gba ? which did he take ? 



