Note 55 — Chapter IV

No one could explain the meaning of this word. Zó means the later rains, and must not be confounded with Zò, fire, which is pronounced with a depression of the voice. The Yoruban languages, like the Chinese, depend upon accents and intonations which are not ours. For instance, So and Soh, slightly aspirated, is a stick. Sò, with a falling of the voice, has the same signification as Khevio-sò, thunder. Só, with a rising of the voice, means a horse; and with an almost imperceptible variation of voice, means bring; e.g., Só, zò, wá, bring hither fire! Sô (pronounced Saw), means yesterday or to-morrow, a fair specimen of linguistic poverty, and leading to numerous mistakes. But these delicacies of intonation are inherent in monosyllabic tongues. That childish form of human language also delights in imitative words, as Koklo, a “cackler” or fowl (in Prakrit Kukkur), Kra-kra, a watchman’s rattle, and so on.