viii NATURAL HISTORY VOCABULARY 



In the definite form the accent is always moved to the end 

 of the word ; as 



nika, a cow ; nikei, the cow. 



After the double consonants " kp," " gb," a " w " is commonly 

 heard before "i" and " e," but it is comparatively rare to 

 hear it before the other vowels. 



Initial consonants are liable to many phonetic changes, 

 as, "t" into "1"; " ng " into "w" or "y" or "g"; "p" 

 into " w " ; " mb " into " w " ; " Nd " into " 1," &c. 



Some words, such as names of small insects usually seen 

 in large numbers, are more commonly met with in the 

 plural. The indefinite plural termination is "-nga" added 

 to the indefinite form singular, and the definite termination 

 is " -sia " joined to the definite form singular. The latter 

 is the more commonly used. 



There are other plurals, but they do not need to be 

 mentioned here. 



Many names of plants are compound words. The following 

 words are commonly found in their composition : — 



La (lai) or nda (ndai) . Leaf. Usually compounded in the 



name of a herb, or occasionally 



a shrub. Never with a tree. 



It emphasises that the leaf is 



, the principal part. 



Tifa (tife) or lifa (life) . Shrub, plant. 



Ngeyako (ngeyakoi) . Runner, creeper. 



Further, 



Ngulu (ngului), nguru \ rn , 

 I '^•\ ^' i iree. 



(ngurui) j 



Powe (powe) .... Flower. It is not used quite in the 



English sense of flowers :is 

 apart from the plant. 



Ngu (ngui) .... Fruit. Lit. Head. 



Ku (kui) Buttress of a big tree, or wing of a 



capsule. 



Kolo (kole) .... Bark. (Also skin, paper.) 



Hape (hapei) .... Root. 



Nja (ujei) Sap. Lit. Water. 



