Excerpt from A Yao Grammar

Since the first edition of this hook was published I have had the opportunity of visiting Yaoland proper, in Portuguese East Africa and the country north of the Rovuma. I have thus been enabled to study more thoroughly the language as it is spoken by the Amasaninga and Amangoche Yaos, as a result the Grammar has been thoroughly revised and some important constructions added.

The Vocabulary has been enlarged and now includes most of the words in common use, though of course it makes no pretension to completeness. Unfortunately my dictionary is still incomplete, largely owing to the loss of Mss representing several years work.

In this edition the classification of the nouns has been altered so as to bring it into line with other works on Bantu languages, this is necessary for the purpose of comparison. The scheme adopted is a modified form of that introduced by Bleek and is one that will in the course of time, I believe, become universal.

The orthography remains the same, though it is admittedly imperfect and invites criticism.

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