58 



ON THE COMPARATIVE ETYMOLOGY 



by the fact that, as we have already seen, m is used in Yoruba, as well as b and w, to 

 represent continued existence. Yor. aba, with or together; Gr., S/m; Eg., am, with, and 



Sans., eva, also (ewa = awa in Yor., Cfr. Eng., even), are, therefore, apparently identical 



words. 



Bowcn says (p. 29), "the origin of the particle 'ti' is doubtful. It is not improbably, 

 however, a modification of to, to be sufficient, to attain to, which is sometimes employed as 

 a sort of auxiliary particle." The same radical meaning is traceable in ta, to shoot forth 

 branches, to go from place to place, and te, to spread out, to push forward, to approach., to 

 be near. Hence, ti, 1, to thump, strike against, lean against, prop, support ; 2, to lock or 

 fasten, tie, hind ; 3, that, who, which; 4, from, of, by, and; 5, auxiliary or possessive part., 

 hare, has, had (as if to denote that which is tied to one, or by one). De and di have many 

 of the same meanings, and are undoubtedly from the same root. It appears, therefore, 

 that the only radical difference between abi, ani, awa, and ati, is found in the more definite 

 idea of nearness to some object, that is expressed by ati. They all signify "that which 

 is," but ati also means that which is at or to one. Sec Ati, § 59. Cfr. Chin., te, to ar- 

 rive at, push -with the horns, rush against, oppose, bind with leather straps, to, for, to grasp 

 toith the hands. 



In the various significations of dc, di, ta, te, ti, to lay, spread out, erect (as a tent or 

 altar), bind, possess, it is easy to discover the origin of Sans, dha, Gr., H, to place, as well 

 as of the kindred English forms do, did, and the preterite ending -d* Curiously enough, 

 we find the preterite inflection retained in Yoruba grammar, in its primitive radical form; 

 c. g., emi fe, Hove; emi ti fg, I possess love = I love-d, or I have lovc-d. In the optative 

 mood we find, besides the interesting form ma = Chin, mang, Ger. mag, &c, to which 

 allusion has already been made, the still more interesting ma ti = Chin, mang te, Ger. 

 mog-tc, Eng. migh-t; e. g., emi ma ti ri, / might have seen. 



The correspondence in meaning between Yor. ni and ti, is further borne out by the root 

 na, which, like ta, te, ti, signifies to stretch, extend, that. Ana would, therefore, = "even,- 

 in the sense of continuous, unbroken, level," which Wcdgcwood conjectures to have been 

 the primitive meaning of an, if One of the Yoruba forms of the verb to be, thus ap- 

 pears to have become the basis of Gr. &, Eat., Eng. an, while another is retained unaltered 

 in Yor. bi, if Cfr. Tooke's derivation of if from gifan,t = Ger. ge-ben. 



132. B r>, wealth, clay. " That which is scraped together ; collected into a mass." Cfr. 

 It., oro; Fr., or. 



133. 9ns, a word,, conversation. "That which tells, or sounds." Cfr. Lat., verbum, oro 

 (Cfr. Yor., toro, to beg); Dan., Sw., ord; A. S., Eng., word. 



134. <buitj = »ru ni? that which is elevated or swollen, or o raij, shining. This word 



* See Mailer's Lectures, pp. 231-4. 



f p. 70. 



