Outlines of a Grammar of the Vei (Vai) Language together with Vei-English Vocabulary

284 Pages·12.948 MB·

by  Koelle S.W.

i!3'. «v J'^S ^'

OUTLINES
OFA
GRAMMAR OF THE VEI LANGUAGE,
TOGETHER WITH A
VEI-ENGLISH VOCABULARY.
AND AN
ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY AND NATURE OF THE VEI
MODE OF SYLLABIC WRITING.
BY W. KOELLE,
S.
CHURCHMISSIONAUT.
LONDON
CHURCH MISSIONARY HOUSE,
SALISBURYSQUARE.
1854.
Republished in association with the African
Languages Review of Fourah Bay College
ettoirjtrere e|evoqmjutaro^
iravedvo<;avOpioviov
KOToiKeiv eTTtTravtoTrpoffwirovtjjs«y»)f.
St. Paul^AcIs xvii.26.
S. B. N. - GB: 576.11611.4
Republished in 1968 by
Gregg International Publishers Limited
1 Westmead, Farnborough, Hants., England
Printed in Germany
CONTENTS.
PAGE
—
Preface i vi
CHAPTER
I.
§. 1. EthnologicalRelationshipof theVexLanguage, 1
I. Affinitywith Indo-European, Semitic, andAfri-
can Roots 1
II. Languages belongingtothe Manden'ga Stock.. 10
III. Illustration ofpeculiaritiesoftheVeiLanguage. . 11
CHAPTER
II.
§. 2. SoundsandOrthography 14
CHAPTER
III.
Etymologyof the Partsof Speech.
•^. 3. General 19
§. 4. Etymologyof Substantives 19
§. 5. Etymology of Pronouns 23
I. Personal and PossessivePronouns 23
II. Reflective Pronoun 24
III. Demonstrative Pronouns 24
IV. InterrogativePronouns 26
V. Reciprocal Pronoun 26
^. 6. EtymologyofAdjkctives 26
^. 7. Etymology of Numerals 27
CONTENTS.
PAGE
§. 8. Etymology ofVerbs 32
§. 9, EtymologyofAdverbs 35
§. 10. Etymologyof Postpositions 38
§. 11. EtymologyofConjunctions 39
§. 12. Etymology ofInterjections 40
CHAPTER
IV.
§. 13. Convertibilityof Words 40
CHAPTER V.
§. 14. On the Accent 43
CHAPTER VI.
The Law of Euphony.
§. 15. Physical Law of Euphony 45
§. 16. Psychical Lawof Euphony 56
CHAPTER VII.
On Composition and Decomposition.
§. 17. Composition 58
§. 18. Decomposition 59
CHAPTER
VIII.
Figuresof Speech and Figurative Language.
§. 19. Figuresof Speech 62
^. 20. Figurative Language 64
CHAPTER
IX.
V- 21. On Propositions 73
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
X.
PAGE
§. 22. Peculiar Suffixes 78
I. Ni 78
II. Wi 81
III. We 82
lY. Ke 83
V. Wa 85
'.
VI. 0,u, ou 85
VII. I. 86
VIII. Affinitybetweensomeofthem 87
IX. Ro 88
X. Re 90
XL A,ra, da 91
XII. Na 93
CHAPTER XI.
Syntax of the Partsof Speech.
^. 23. Syntax of Substantives 94
§. 24. SyntaxofPronouns 97
I. Personaland Possessive Pronouns 97
II. ReflectivePronouns 105
in. Demonstrative Pronouns 106
IV. Inten'ogative Pronouns 109
V. Reciprocal Pronoun 110
§. 25. Syntaxof Adjectives Ill
§. 26. Syntaxof Numerals 112
§. 27. SyntaxofVerbs 116
§. 28. Syntaxof Adverbs 128
§.29. Syntaxof Postpositions 131
§. 30. Syntax ofConjunctions 133
§.31. Syntaxof Interjections 140
Vei-EnolishVocabulary 143