§38. The copula, ni, is employed as a link between subject and predicate. It is also, although rarely, used with the significance of the English auxiliary ‘to be able’.1 Morphologically, it is an invariable form, i. e., no affixes can be appended to it; but it undergoes considerable phonetic change. These phonetic changes may be summarized as follows: (1) It may be reduced to syllabic η (η), which in turn may become n or m, according to the initial consonant of the following word.2 (2) It combines with the initial i of the personal pronouns and demonstratives that have initial i, giving the forms :3