Grammar of the New Zealand Language
Of the Possessive Pronouns
Of the Possessive Pronouns.
As the possessive pronouns are closely connected with the personal, they may be mentioned next.
Singular. | Plural. |
---|---|
Toku, or tāku, or tăku, my. | Oku, āku, or ăku, my. |
Tou, to, or tau. thy. | Ou, o, au, thy |
Tona, tāna, or tăna, his. | Ona, āna, ăna, his. |
The other possessive pronouns are formed from the dual and plural of their respective pronouns by prefixing o; e.g.,
o taua, of us two. | o tatou, our. |
o maua, of us two. | o matou, our. |
o korua, of you two. | o koutou, your. |
o raua, of them two. | o ratou, their. |
Such words as himself, his own, my own, &c., are expressed in Maori by some adverb added in the sentence; e g., Nona ake ano tona aroha ki a tatou, his love to us was his own; i. e., was self-derived.
The adverbs most usually employed for this purpose are ake, ano, noa, iho, tonu.