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First Lessons in Maori

XI. Miscellaneous

XI. Miscellaneous.

§ 79. Position of adverbs.

—With the exceptions mentioned below, an adverb will always follow the word it is qualifying. If the word qualified be a verb in the Imperfect or Narrative Form the adverb mai may stand before or after the particle ana, but any other adverb must be placed before ana.

The following:—ata, gently, quite; mātua, first; and tino, very; are exceptions to the general rule, and always stand before the qualified words. A clause containing the adverb mātua is followed by the inceptive with ai.

page 51 Examples.
  • He tangata tino pai, a very good man.

  • Kia matua kitea te toki, ka haere ai koe ki te ngahere, first let the axe be found, and then go to the wood.

  • He kino rawa tena, that is very bad.

  • Kihai i ata oti te mahi, the work was not quite finished.

§ 80. Added Termination.

—Adverbs other than those specified in § 79, or adjectives used adverbially, which have reference to the manner, intensity, etc., of an action which they qualify, have the passive termination -tia added to them when used with passive verbs, and the termination -tanga when used with derivative nouns, which denote the time, place, or circumstance of an action or condition. (§ 51, 58).

Examples.
  • I kainga otatia nga kumara, the kumara were eaten raw.

  • Mo tana patunga pukutanga i a au, on account of his secretly striking me.

§ 81. Adverbs indicating direction.

—The words atu and mai are correlative. Atu generally denotes direction or motion away from the speaker (a); and mai, direction or motion towards the speaker (b). They may also denote the relative position of persons or objects, regarded as being opposite to, or over against one another (c). Ake denotes direction or motion towards some place connected with the speaker, but not where he is at the time of speaking (d). Ake and iho are also correlative, ake meaning “from below” or “upwards”; and iho meaning “from above” or “downwards.” When persons or objects are thus relatively situated, ake always qualifies the action or condition of that which is in the inferior position in respect of that which is in the superior position (e); and iho qualifies the action or condition of the superior in respect of the inferior (f).

page 52 Examples.
(a)

I hoki atu a Kupe i konei ki Hawaiki, Kupe returned hence to Hawaiki.

(b)

Ka rere mai a Tainui, ka u ki Kawhia, Tainui (the canoe) sailed hither and arrived at Kawhia.

I a ia e haere atu ana, ka kitea mai e ona tungane, as she was going she was seen by her brothers.

(c)

Noho atu ana tetahi, noho mai ana tetahi, i tetahi taha, i tetahi taha o ta raua ahi, They sat opposite one another on either side of their fire.

Tikina atu te kowhatu e takoto mai ra, Fetch the stone which lies yonder.

(d)

I tutaki maua ki a Rua e haere ake ana ki Maketu, We met Rua going towards Maketu.

(e)

and (f) When Whakaturia was captured by Uenuku's people and fastened under the ridgepole of their house, the conversation between them is thus described:—

  • Ka mea iho a Whakaturia, Whakaturia said, E koutou e haka ake nei, whakarongo ake koutou katoa, You who are dancing down there, listen all of you.

  • Ka mea ake ratou o te whare, Those of the house replied, E koe e iri iho nei, korero iho ra. You who hang up there, speak on.

  • Ka mea iho taua maia ra. Then our hero replied. Ina koa ko tau tu haka te kino e rongo iho nei au. Really, the poorness of that haka of yours which I hear.

§ 82.

When, as an interrogative, is commonly expressed by no nahea or i nahea for past time, and a hea for future. To mark the time of occurrence, the prepositions no and i are used for past time, and a and hei for future. (§ 15.)

page 53 Examples.
  • No nahea ia i tae mai ai? When did he arrive?

  • A hea koe haere ai? When shall you go?

  • No toku kitenga i a ia ka homai e ia te toki ki ahua, When I saw (At the time of my seeing) him, he gave the axe to me.

  • I taku korerotanga atu ki a ia inanahi kihai i ki mai tona waha, When I spoke to him yesterday he said nothing.

  • Ka rokohanga ano a Heke ki reira a tou taenga atu, Heke will be found there when you arrive there.

  • Hei te hokinga atu o Tareha ka haere mai ai koe, When Tareha returns you shall come.

§ 83.

As soon as is expressed by an elliptical use of the verb with one of the adverbs tonu or kau for past time, and by the subjunctive with kia for future.

Examples.
  • Tae tonu atu matou ki reira ka timata te korero, As soon as we arrived there the speaking began.

  • Rangona kautia mai ahau e karanga ana, ka oma katoa ratou, As soon as I was heard calling they all ran away.

  • Kia oti te whare ka noho ai ia ki roto, As soon as the house is finished he shall live in it.

§ 84.

Why, as an interrogative, is expressed by he aha or by na te aha, the verb being followed by ai. He aha is generally used as in reference to a purpose or object in view (a); na te aha in reference to an antecedent cause (b). The construction with he aha may be varied by using an infinitive with a possessive pronoun, in this case the reference is usually to the cause not to the purpose (c).

The reason why is expressed by the use of take followed by a relative clause with ai, (§ 73) (d).

Why is also frequently rendered by paraphrase, by the use of the expression he aha te take, with a relative clause as above (e).

page 54
Examples.
(a)

He aha a Turi i haere ai ki Taupo? He tiki i tana tamaiti. Why did Turi go to Taupo? To fetch his child.

(b)

Na te aha ia i kore ai e tutuki ki Waiapu? Na te waipuke. Why did he not reach Waiapu? Because of the flood.

(c)

He aha tau e kata, or He aha to kata? Why are you laughing?

(d)

Ko te take tena i kore ai ia e haere, That is the reason why he did not go.

(e)

He aha te take i haere ai ia? Why did he go?

§ 85.

Because is generally expressed by ta te mea or no te mea, but if the reference is to an antecedent moving cause the preposition na may be used followed by a relative clause (§ 73).

Examples.
  • E kore ahau e riri ki a koe, ta te mea e aroha ana ahau ki a koe, I will not be angry with you, because I love you.

  • Ka riri a Huakatoa, no te mea i rukea e ratou nga kai, Huakatoa was angry because they threw away the food.

  • Na te kino hoki i mahue ai te whenua, Because of its badness the land was abandoned.

  • Na reira i tika ai ta ratou heke mai, On that account they departed forthwith.

§ 86.

The purpose of an action may be rendered by he mea.

Example.
  • He kai makutu ana kai, koia i karangatia ai a Tamure ki te kai he mea kia mate. His food was bewitched; therefore Tamure was called to eat in order that he might die.

§ 87.

And is expressed by the following different words or methods:

i. a, used to connect consecutive actions or circumstances, with the notion of the lapse of time.

page 55
  • Hoe ana mai ratou, a ka u ki Mokau, They rowed hither, and landed at Mokau.

a may often be translated by “and at length,” or “until.”

  • I kainga nga ika a pau noa, The fish were eaten until they were quite consumed.

ii. me, properly a preposition signifying “with,” and denoting concomitancy. (§ 15).

  • Kei reira te waka me te hoe, The canoe is there and the paddle.

iii. ma, used only with numerals. (§ 28).

  • E rua tekau ma waru, Twenty-eight.

iv. hoki, introducing something additional, often to be rendered by “also,” or “too,” and placed always after the first important word in the sentence.

  • I patua nga tangata, i tahuna hoki nga whare ki te ahi, The men were killed, and the houses were burnt with fire.

v. To connect the names of persons the personal pronouns are used with ko. For examples see § 12.

vi. When, however, two or more immediately consecutive actions are expressed by verbs in the same tense, or when two or more nouns are governed by the same preposition, they should follow one another in Maori without any conjunction, the preposition in the latter case being repeated before each noun.

Examples.
  • Ka haere ia, ka kite i te tamaiti, ka arahi mai ki roto ki te whare, He went and found the child and led it into the house.

  • I whakatokia te mara ki te uwhi, ki te taro, ki te kumara, The field was planted with yam, taro, and kumara.