word is a gender word, the juxtaposed words collapse into a morphological unit [ii] when the juxtaposed words constitute either a compound or a phrase. The second subclass constitutes an area of overlap between the b and c contexts of deletion. Illustrations of this overlap are given under c i and ii. [c] When the word with delectable o- occurs in a larger construction, in particular in compounds, phrases and sentences. Initial o- of this subclass shows differential behavior being at times obligatorily [subclass i] and at times optionally dropped [subclass ii].

Note that in all these cases the nonmonosyllabicity of Mao nouns is preserved.

a.    ovo ‘work’ ni-vo ‘your work’       [cf. nizhü ovo]     okhro ‘dao ; sowrd’ a-khro ‘my dao/sword’       [cf.azhüokhro]     opre ‘field-house’  ata [müi]-pre ‘our [excl.prn. and         excl.pl.] field-hut’   oso ‘meat’ ovo-so ‘pork’   oli ‘cooking pot oso-li ‘pot for [cooking]     [generic]’   water-soaked,         softened rice’   opfü ophe ‘[human] body’ lopüi- pfüzho ‘her [rem. dem. or   opfü zho   pfüphe nondeictic] body’   oro ‘slough’ ihõ-ro ‘snake slough’   ohĩ ‘eye [s]’ adahra-hĩ ‘Adhara’s eye[s]’   ona ‘clothes; dress; ni-na ‘your[sg.] clothes ;     things’   dress ; things’   oba ‘hand’ a-ba ‘my hand’   omu ‘group[not‘herd’ oso morü-mu ‘pride of lions’     which is to be         tended]’ osi-mu ‘pack of dogs’   osa ‘cloth [es]’ onao -sa ‘child’s cloth [es]’   okho ‘fish’ ahi-kho ‘our [incl. du.] fish’   okhe ‘plate’ nikhrumüi-khe ‘your[incl.du.]plate[s]’   ope ‘uncle’ lophro -pe ‘Lophro’s uncle’   opfo ‘father’ ata [müi] -pfo ‘our [excl. prn. and         excl. pl.] father’   ocü ‘house’ ni-cü ‘your [sg.] house’   ola ‘language’ ikhrumüi-la ‘our [incl. prn. and         incl. pl.] language’   oni ‘festival’ imemüi-ni ‘Mao’s festival’   ocümüi ‘wife’ a-cümüi ‘my wife’   oto ‘necklace’ ahia-to ‘Athia’s necklace’   oro ‘basket’ ashiphro-ro ‘Ashiphro’s basket’   osi ‘dog’ ahi)-si ‘our [excl.du.] dog’   otu ‘domestic { akhrumüi }{ i }-tu ‘our [excl. prn. and     ruminant   incl. p.] domestic     bovine’   ruminant bovine’   odo ‘field’  pfota [müi]-do ‘their [excl. pl.] field’   ozhie ‘ricebeer’ adani-zhie ‘Adani’s ricebeer’   oko ‘story’ katini-ko ‘Katini’s story’   ozhü ‘water’ ata-dzü ‘our [excl. prn. and         excl. pl.] water’   ona child; offspring’ a-na ‘my child [ren]’   ohi     ‘behind       47 pfo1 ohi2  ta-e3 ‘he1 went3 behind 2     { ni } 2       pfo1 { pfo } hi3 ta-e4     { pfokrehrü }       ‘he1 went4 behind 3 { you } 2         { her }         { pfokrehrü }