There are many other combinations in use, but these twelve will give some idea of the possibilities of the verb and its prefixes and suffixes. It will be noted that although the passive of kanga is kangama, yet in the above examples the vowels sometimes become e and sometimes i, this is because the vowel e in ela (see first example, the passive and prepositional form given in the preceding paragraph) changes the final a of kangama into e as kangamela, and has a retro-active force in turning the initial a of the passive suffix also into e; kangama is really kangaama, but as one a elides another it becomes kangama, and kangemela is really kangamaela, but a elides before e, so it becomes kangamela, and the e in the penultimate demands that the other a of the suffix should become e also, hence we have kangemela. The same euphonic law demands that kanga-ama-ija should become kangimija, and kanga-ana-ela should become kangenela.
There is also an intensive form of the verb that is best expressed in English by a suitable adverb:
Kata = to hold; katatala = to hold tightly; and this has a causative Katitija = to cause to hold tightly.
Kana = to push in; kanalala = to be pushed in too much, kaninija = to cause to go in too far.
Ama = to press; amamala = to be pressed too far: amimija = to cause to be pressed too much.
Tamba = to stand out; tambambala = to be standing out conspicuously, and the causative tambimbija = to cause to stand out well in sight.
In the above are very good examples of what I call, for the lack of a better word, the retro-active power of their euphonic laws for harmonizing the vowels.
By the aid of so plastic a verb we had no difficulty in expressing the finest shades of meaning in the New Testament—a part of which is translated into the Boloki language—and in translating other books for the benefit of the natives.
Note 3.—On Boloki Method of Counting
The numerals from 1 to 5 are declinable. The letter in brackets is the particle that changes according to the class of the noun used, e.g. two persons would be batu (ba) bale = persons two but two cloths would be bilamba (bi) bale = cloths two.