Page:A Concise Grammar of the Malagasy Language.djvu/69

 parable, proverb. It is a contraction for òhatra-vòlana, -na being rejected and v changed into b; here it is the nominative case to hatào. The root vòlana (a word) is used by the Hovas only in the phrase tsỳ mitèny tsỳ mivòlana, 'to be silent', 'speechless'; but one or two of the other tribes still use mivòlana as synonymous with mitèny.

Òha-tèny is used as a synonym of òhabòlana.

Kèly, adjective, qualifying òhabòlana. It means little; its past tense is the same as the present, but its future is hò kèly.

Nò, discriminative particle. Its force here is, "I will answer you, not by a simple denial, but by making a parable".

Hatàoko, passive verb in a- (future tense), from root tào, which is seen in the noun tào-zàvatra, 'manufactures'; -ko is the suffixed pronoun, first person singular, denoting the agent of the passive verb hatào.

Hò èntiko, passive verb in -ina, root unknown; a verbal noun in -ana (èntana, luggage, a load) also exists. Èntina makes past nèntina, like passives in -ina; but future, hò èntina, like root-passives. Hò èntina is here dependent upon hatào, one future passive following another. Èntina literally 'borne, carried'; but often translated by 'used', as in ènti-manào, 'used in making'.

Handà, active verb in man-, from root là, I being changed into d for the sake of euphony (future tense); it means to deny, refuse, and is here used as an infinitive dependent on hò èntiko, a future active following a future passive.

Nỳ, definite article, here used to turn the phrase nỳ hanàovanào àhy andrìambavènty into a noun.