1849] valley of As am and its mountain confines. 225 



Ace. Elag, hand. 



Abl. Elag-lokem, or Elag-kem, from a hand. 



Instr. Elag-koki, with a hand. 



Loc. Elag-16, in a hand. 



Gender is sometimes denoted by distinct words, as : 

 Amie, man. Mimmo, woman. 



Koua, boy. Mieng, girl. 



Baba, father. Nana, mother. 



Paia, uncle. Niaya, aunt. 



Millo, husband. Mieng, wife. 



The male and female of inferior animals are indicated by the terms 

 baka and keka, these terms, however, are added only to the last sylla- 

 ble of the nouns, thus : 



Dum-sung, a deer. Masc. Sung-baka. Fern. Sung-neka. Menjeg, 

 a buffaloe. Masc. Jeg-baka. Fern. Jeg-neka. Sit-te, an elephant. 

 Masc. Te-baka. Fern. Te-neka. Saben, a goat. Masc. Ben-baka. 

 Fern. Ben-neka. Eki, a dog. Masc. Ki-baka. Fern. Ki-neka. 



In asking a question to ascertain the gender of these animals, a still 

 further abbreviation is employed. The last syllable of the noun, and 

 the first of the adjective are the only ones used. Thus : 

 Tene teba? Is it a male or a female elephant? 

 Kine kiba ? Is it a male or a female dog ? 

 Benne ben ba? Is it a male or a female goat ? 

 Of Adjectives. 



The position of an adjective in a sentence is immediately after the 

 noun it serves to qualify, as : R6k-pi aima, a bad egg. Amie aida, a 

 good man. 



An adjective has no variation of case or number ; but when used in 

 composition with a noun, the variations of case are usually applied to 

 the adjective instead of to the substantive. 



Adjectives are compared by adding Amedag, or Titidag, very, ex- 

 ceeding, for the comparative, and Atadag, for the superlative. Thus :— 

 Atag, broad. Atag amedag, broader. Atag atadag, broadest.. 



Kampo, beautiful. Kampo titidag, more beautiful, and Kampo atadag, 

 most beautiful. 



To give greater force or expression to the comparison the words 

 Amedag and atadag are sounded with a lengthened utterance of the 

 voice. 



