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First Lessons in Maori

§ 21

§ 21.

The demonstratives tenei, tena, tera, are equivalent to the article te and the adverbs nei, na, ra, respectively; and we may say indifferently Tenei tangata, or Te tangata nei. So also in the plural; Era whare, may be replaced by Nga whare ra. Tenei denotes that the thing spoken of is near or in some way connected with the speaker; tena, that it is near, or in some way connected with the person spoken to; tera, that it is at a distance from, or unconnected with either the speaker or the person spoken to, and similarly with their respective plurals.

Ia is generally used distributively for each, both it and the noun being repeated. Tenei, tena, tera, and tetahi may also be used in the same way.

Examples.
  • Ia tangata, ia tangata, each man.

  • Tenei rōpū, tenei rōpū o ratou, each company of them.

  • I hoatu e ia he kai ki tetahi ki tetahi o ratou, he gave food to each of them.

Tena may often be rendered by this, when the thing spoken of is contrasted with something at a distance, and not with an object near or connected with the speaker.

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Tera is often used in an emphatic way for the personal pronoun of the third person singular.

Example.
  • Kua tae tera ki Mokoia, he has arrived at Mokoia.

Tenei, tena, tetahi, tera, and the possessives often stand alone, the noun being understood.

Examples.
  • Naku tenei, nau tena, this is mine, that is yours.

  • He rangatira taua tangata, that man is a chief.

  • Pai ke atu taku i ta Turi, mine is better than Turi's.

When contrast is implied, tetahi, with or without atu, means another. Tetahi may be repeated either with or without a noun, to signify one and the other or another.

Examples.
  • Ki te pai ki tenei tangata, e pai ana; ki te pai ki tetahi atu, e pai ana, if you approve of this man, it is well; if you approve of another, it is well.

  • Ko nga tuākana ki tetahi taha, ko ia ki tetahi taha, the brothers were at one side, and he at the other.

  • Kua oti tetahi karakia, e whai ana ki tetahi, when one spell had been finished, they followed with another.

A further use of tetahi is to form a reciprocal, representing one another or each other.

Example.
  • I titiro whakatau raua tetahi ki tetahi, they looked intently at one another.

But, if there is no ambiguity, this is often expressed by the simple use of raua.

Example.
  • Kua kitekite noa ake raua i a raua, they had seen one another freely.