Page:A Sketch of Mota Grammar.djvu/17

(13) ima, 'he sits at the back of the house.' "When the pronominal affix begins with r, n is added at the end of the substantive, but not always; thus, 'the house of two,' imanrara or imarara. It is possible that this is the pronoun na; it occurs commonly after certain prepositions.

For persons, sei is used; for things, sava, 'what?'

Sei takes the personal article, ''isei? irosei? irasei?'' irarosei? perhaps always when the subject, but very commonly not after a verb or preposition. Sei is no doubt a substantive; sava is a noun substantive in all respects.

There are no relative pronouns as such; when a relative would be used in English, the sense is conveyed in Mota:—

1. By the personal pronoun: I gene me gaganag, ko me vatran̈ ma ti, 'The man whom you sent told me,' i. e. 'The man told, you sent him here.'

2. By adding a verb without a conjunction: I gene me ilo me gaganag, 'The man (who) saw it told me,' or I gene me gaganag me ilo, 'the man told (who) saw.'

3. By the word used as the interrogative pronoun: Ni me gaganag mun, me vatatua, 'He told those who met him.' This corresponds to 'whoever,' rather than 'who.'

These are—iloke, 'this;' iloke n̈an̈, 'these;' ilone, 'that;' ilone n̈an̈, 'those;' o ike, 'this;' o ike n̈an̈, 'these;' o ine, 'that;' o ine n̈an̈, 'those.'

Ke and ne are particles of place. The difference is remarkable that the article cannot be used with iloke, ne; but always is used with ike, ine. The personal article is