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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.

They are as follows:
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.