32 ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX. 



ki q ri, J 



ki emi ri, >• let me see. 



ki emi ki 6 ri, ; 



ki o ri, ) - 



ki iwo ki ri, J 



ki 6 ri, \ 



ki 6q ri, >let him see. 



ki 6r) ki 6 ri, ) 

 3. a. When the verb with 'ki' is preceded by an objective, it may often be 

 rendered by an infinitive ; as, mo kpe o ki o se e, Z called tliee that thou do it or to 

 do it • mo kpfe nyiq ki 6 wo 8, J called yo^i to look at it / 6 bebe wa M d wi, A^ 

 hegged us to tell ; 6 bebe wa ki d mdh wi, he hegged tis not to tell. 



h. In this construction an objective of the third person plural is sometimes fol- 

 lowed by ki 6, that lie ; as, d kpe wog ki 6 ^e e, we called tliem to do it. 



OCCASIONAL PEEPIX. 



i. 



§ 146. The inseparable prefix 'i' (which is not to be confounded with i, he, and 

 i, not) is attached to verbs for the following purposes : 



1. To denote what is permanently true or customary ; as, li okpolokpo okan li 

 enu iso, in the ahmida/me of the heart the mouth speaketli. 



2. It is frequently emphatic after ko, not ; as, nwoq k6 ide, tliey have not come. 

 It would seem that, since ' ko ' is immutably unaccented, the ' i ' is introduced to 

 supply the place of an emphatic accent on the negative. 



3. It appears to be sometimes merely euphonic. 



a. After 'ki' employed instead of ko, not • as, ki i^e awodi, it is Tiot a hatok; 

 emi ki iloh ibe, I never go there. 



1). When the 'o ' which usually follows the relative 'ti' (§ 96, 1) is omitted; as, 

 eni ti iloh, lie wlw went. 



Farms for the Passive Voice. 



§ 147. In Yoruba, as in many other African languages, there is, properly 

 speaking, no passive voice. Various forms of speech, however, supply its place. 



§ 148. 1. The most frequent form is the plural impersonal, employing the con- 

 tracted nominative d, they ; as, d ri mi, tliey see me, for I am seen / d ti ri mi, tJiey 

 Imve seen me, for Ilmve been seen ; d 6 ri mi, tliey will see me, for I shall be seen. 



2. Frequently, retaining this construction, the noun or pronoun denoting the 

 object is placed first ; thus, emi li d ri {I it-is they see), I am seen. 



§ 149. Although the above substitute for the passive is applicable in all cases, 

 there are several other forms which may be used occasionally with good effect : 



1. All the compound active transitive verbs, as ba . . . d^e," to spoil, kpa . . . mo, to 

 conceal (§ 37, I), and a few other transitive verbs, may be used instead of passives ; 

 as, nwoq bad^e, tliey are spoiled ; awa kpamo, ^ve are hid ; 6 se li od^u mi, it tvas 

 done before me, lit. in my eye ; 6ke bo mole, the hills were covered over ; nikpa 

 5ro Oluwa aiye ti dd, hy ths v)ord of the Lord the loorld was made. 



