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.

§ 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).

§ 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.

§ 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.

  • 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.