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First Lessons in Maori
§ 18. The Definitives in Maori comprise:—
§ 18. The Definitives in Maori comprise:—
| (a) |
The articles, te, pl. nga, the; taua, pl. aua, the aforesaid, (§ 19); he, sing. a, some, pl. some or untranslated. page 17 |
| (b) |
The indefinite pronouns, tētahi, one, a, certain, some; pl. ētahi, some, certain, (§ 21). |
| (c) |
The demonstrative adjectives, (tēnei, this; tēna, that; tēra, that, the other (opposed to this or that); with their plurals, ēnei, ēna, ēra; and ia, that, (which has no plural). (§ 21). |
| (d) |
The interrogative pronouns, tēhea, pl. ēhea, which. |
| (e) |
The possessive pronouns, tāku, tōku, my; tāu, tōu, thy; tāna, tōna, his, her; and their plurals, āku, ōku, etc. (§ 6). |
| (f) |
The possessives, formed by using one of the particles, tā, tō, ā, ō, (§ 6), with a dual or plural personal pronoun, a local noun, (§ 8), the name of a person or place, or with a common noun which follows any of the definitives in the preceding classes except he in class (a). (See § 22). |
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Toku whare, my house.
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Enei kowhatu, these stones.
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He whare, a house, or houses.
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Ta Hamo kuri, Hamo's dog.
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To tenei tangata kainga, this man's dwelling place.
The possessive particles ta and to may be resolved into the article and preposition, thus Te kuri a Hamo is equivalent to Ta Hamo kuri, and Te kainga o tenei tangata is equivalent to To tenei tangata kainga. Similarly in the plural we may say either, A Hamo kuri, or Nga kuri a Hamo.