SYNTAX OF THE PRONOUNS.
§ 1. The personal pronouns follow the verb; e. g., e mea ana _ahau_.
§ 2. They are often also omitted after it; e. g., Ka tukua atu te
purahorua, ka tae ki te pa, korerotia atu, Kia mohio i te taua e haere
mai nei----na ka te whai e te pa. Na wai i haere, a; ka tae ki nga
whakatakoto; ka pau te huaki, ka tangi te patu, ka whati tera, te pa;
_the messenger is sent_ (he) _arrives at the pa_ (it) _is told_
(them,) _be on_ (your) _guard against the hostile party_ (which) _is
approaching, so the pa then pursued_. _On then_ (they) _proceeded,
till_ (they) _came to the ambush, the assault is made, the blow
resounds, that flies, the pa_. Sometimes, in Waikato, they are
redundant; e. g., kei te kai taro _mana_, _he is eating bread for
himself_. Examples however of this construction are not varied or
frequent.
In Waikato the personal and possessive pronouns will frequently take
the particle _nge_ before them, but without any variation of meaning.
§ 3. It was observed (page 29) that there is no word in Maori to
denote the pronoun _it_. Occasionally, however, that word will be
designated by _ia_ and its branches; e. g., waiho _mana_ e rapu atu te
tahi huarahi _mona_, _let it (the axe,) search out a path for itself_.
This perhaps should be explained by prosopopœia. Sometimes also we
hear the following: te paraoa _raua_ ko te poaka, _flour and pork_;
nga toki ki a _ratou_ whakatoki, nga kakahu ki a _ratou_ whakakakahu,
_axes by themselves, garments by themselves_.
§ 4. Often the singular and dual of the personal pronouns will be
employed to denote a whole tribe, or company; e. g., _naku_ tena, na
te Urioteoro, _that is mine, the Urioteoro's_; i. e., the property of
my tribe. Keihea taua? _where are we two?_ i. e., where is our party,
ko ta _maua_ ki tena, ta te tangata Maori, _that is a phrase of us
(two) of the New Zealander_, i. e., of the New Zealanders.
NOTE.--This form is often also used when the speaker wishes to
propound some remark which would appear harsh if too personal; e. g.,
he aha kei _a maua ko Hone_, _what is with me and John_; i. e., oh,
never mind John: of what importance is he?
Connected with this is a mode of phrase which we have been surprised
to hear questioned by some who claim a high character as Maori
scholars.
§ 5. A pronoun in the singular will often be made to refer to a noun
in the plural; ko nga tangata _tenei_, _nana_ nga tikaokao, _this are
persons_, HIS _are the fowls_; nga tangata _nona_ te kainga, _the men_
HIS _is the settlement_, i. e., whose is, &c.; nga tangata _nana_ i
patu, _the men_ HIS _was the having struck_; i. e., who struck. _Tenei
matou te_ noho atu nei, _this is we_, who _am sitting towards you_.
§ 6. It is a very common thing in Maori to put into the third person a
pronoun which has reference to either the first or second; e. g., hei
rama aha? _tana_ koke noa atu,--_nana tana_ rakau, _a light for what
purpose?_--_his_ stumbling away--_his_ is _his_ own _stick_, i. e.,
"What do I want of light?--I can stumble out my way--I am accustomed
to that kind of work;" ko te rangi mahi kai tenei ma _tona_ tinana,
_this is the day for procuring food for_ his _body_; i. e., for
ourselves; kei _tena_ tangata pea, _it rests perhaps with that
individual_; i. e., with you; _tona_ tangata kaha ko koe, _you are his
strong man_; i. e., what a very strong man you are! (ironically);
haere korua, e Hone, _raua_ ko Hemi, _go you (two) John, they two and
James_; i. e., go you and James.
This last form is, perhaps, peculiar to the Waikato District.
§ 7. When two or more individuals are connected in English by the
conjunction _and_, they will very frequently be denoted by the dual or
plural, of the personal pronoun of the more worthy person. For
example, _he_ and _I_ are denoted by _maua_, John and James by Hone
_raua_ ko Hemi, John, James, and Luke, by Hone, _ratou_ ko Hemi, ko
Ruka.
In this construction the latter noun will be in the nominative, even
though the preceding be in an oblique case; e. g., te atawhai o te
Atua, _raua ko tana tamaiti, ko Ihu Karaiti_, the mercy of God and
His Son Jesus Christ. Here, though _Atua_ is in the possessive case,
_raua_ and tamaiti, and Ihu Karaiti are in the nominative.
This strange, though in Maori very common, mode of construction
cannot, we believe, be explained in any other way than by an
epanorthosis. (Vide page 114, § 3.)
§ 8. The noun belonging to the pronoun is often omitted, especially in
talking of garments; e. g., keihea toku? _Where is mine_; i. e., my
garment. Tikina atu te tahi ki a koe, _fetch some for you_; i. e.,
fetch some garment. Ko wai toku?--_Who is mine?_--i. e., my helper.
§ 9. _The relative pronouns._--Following are some of the ways in which
the defect of the relative pronoun is supplied in Maori:--(1) Te
tangata _nana_ nga kakano _the man whose are the seeds_; (2) te
tangata _i_ nga kakano, _idem_; (3) te tangata i patu _nei_ i a Hone,
the man (_who_) struck John; _or_ (4) te tangata i patua _ai_ (_by
whom, on account of whom_), _he was beaten_; (5) Keihea, he poraka
_hei to_ i te rakau? _Where is there a block (with which) to drag the
log?_ (6) Keihea he haer_enga_? _where is there a place on which
(they, the cows) may run?_ (7) Ko tenei _taku_ i mate nui _ai_, _this
is_ MINE _desired_, i. e., this is _what_ I wished for; (8) te poaka i
patua e koe, the _pig (which) was killed by you_; (9) _kei reira_ te
pakaru, _kei reira_ te paru, _you must coat_ (with raupo) _all parts
of the house that are broken_.
It will be seen in the preceding examples that the most common means
by which the want of the relative is supplied are by the preposition,
as in example 2; (2) by the particles _nei_, &c., and _ai_, as in
examples 3 and 4; (3) by the verbal noun, as in examples 5 and 6; (4)
by the possessive case with _ai_, as in example 7; (5) by the passive
voice, as in example 8. Occasionally, also, the personal pronouns, as
in example 1, or the adverb _reira_, as in example 9, &c., are used
for the same purpose.
§ 10. _Demonstrative Pronouns._--(1) These, like the primitive
pronouns of Hebrew, are often used for the verb of existence; (2) and
the time will frequently be denoted by the pronoun used; i. e., Tenei
will mostly be used for the present tense; tena, (and most frequently)
tera, for the future, or past, and sometimes for the imperative mood;
e. g., e haere ana _tenei_ ahau, THIS _I am going_; i. e., I am going;
_tenei_ au, _here I am_; _tera_ e mate, _that will die_, i. e., he
will die; _tena_ taku pu maua mai, _that my gun bring here_; i. e.,
bring my gun.
The leading distinctions between tenei, tena, and tera, and also the
distinction between them and their resolved forms te--nei, &c., have
been mentioned, page 30. Instances, however, are not rare, in which
those distinctions seem to be disregarded; and others will occur which
it will require some experience and ingenuity to classify; e. g., I
_te_ po _nei_ implies that it has been already dark for some time; i
_tenei_ po may mean The night of this day. In the following, Kei hea
_te_ awa _nei_? (_where is the channel that we are seeking for?_) it
is clear _tenei_ could not be employed.
(2.) Sometimes only _nei_ will be admitted into connexion with the
first person; (i. e., when the speaker is denoted as the person
looking at the object spoken of;) and _na_ into connexion with the
second. _Ra_ has for the most part a vague or general application.[37]
Thus a person, calling to a settlement, will say, Kahore he tangata i
te kainga nei? _Is there no one at that settlement?_ (at which I am
looking.) If addressing another who belongs to, or has seen, the
settlement, he will say, i te kainga _na_, (or _ra_) _at the
settlement which you see there, or to which you belong_, &c. Again.
Keihea nga kau? where are the cows? Kei _kona_ ano, _They are there
near you_. If he had said, Kei ko, we should have understood him to
mean, "They are off, away, in that direction;" na _kona_ mai, _come by
that direct path, in which you are_; na _ko_ mai, _come by that
circuitous one away there_.
(3.) Nei, &c., in composition will frequently supply the place of the
relative; e. g., te taua i muru NEI i a Hone.
(4.) Sometimes they will imply a conjunction, or will otherwise limit
the sentence in which they occur, by implying a connection with a
previous sentence or thing. Thus, kahore au i pai, means _I am not
willing_; kahore _nei_ ahau i pai will mean, _the reason was because I
was not willing_; or, _you know I was not_, &c., &c. Again, I a koutou
_e_ tatari _ana_ will denote a mere general remark, _while you are
waiting_, I a koutou e tatari _nei_ denotes _while you are_ THUS
_continuing to wait_; te wahine i whakarerea, _the woman who was
divorced_; te wahine i whakarerea _nei_, (or _ra_), _the woman who was
divorced under these_ (or _those_) _particular circumstances_, or, _on
that particular occasion_, &c., &c.
_The Interrogative Pronouns._--_Wai_ and _aha_ are often used to add
intensity; _ma wai_ e noho, e au? _that I should remain is for whom?_
i. e., I won't remain. _Ko wai_ hoki ka kite i te hoenga o tenei taua,
_maua nei_? _who saw the departure of this hostile party, we two?_ i. e.,
we did not at all see this party's departure to fight with you;
hei _aha_ ma _wai_? _For what purpose is it, for whom?_ i. e., what
good at all is that for? kahore i rongo, kahore i aha, _he did not
attend, he did not what_; i. e., he did not at all listen; kahore aku
kupu, _me he aha, me he aha_, _I did not utter a word, if a what, if a
what_; i. e., I did not at all speak; ka hua ahau _he aha_, _I thought
it was a what_; i. e., I imagined it was something very important you
were going to talk about. Sometimes a personal pronoun will be
associated with an interrogative; e. g., ko _wai_ hoki _taua_ ka kite
atu? _Who, we two, can see it?_ i. e., who knows?
[37] For _ra_ as an adverbial particle, vide page 92.