Robert Maunsell

“ Every scholar is aware of the disputes that have been agitated among the learned respecting the uses of this article, and that some have even maintained "that its use is guided by no rule at all." The fact is, every language has its peculiarities, and it would be absurd to maintain that because any given part of speech has certain powers in one language, it must have the same in another. ”

“ It is true that other tenses may sometimes be met with which are accurately defined; but we cannot admit them a distinct place in the modifications of the simple verb; because such forms are always compound, or depend, at least, for their meaning upon the construction, and belong more properly to the syntax than to this part of the grammar.
§ 7. In examining into the time of a verb, it will often be very necessary for the student to notice whether the sentence, in which it is contained, is simple, or compound ”

“ 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 ”

“ The student will find, as we proceed, that the lines of distinction between the various classes of pronoun, adverb, preposition, noun, verb and adjective, are frequently but faintly marked, and that the same word may be often noticed as standing in four or five different ranks.
Tehea, and its plural ehea, is applied to which of a number, and is used to denote persons, or things; e. g.,
Ko tehea tau e pai ai? which do you choose? Ko ehea tangata au e ki nei, which men do you speak of? ”

“ From the preceding table the student will see that Maori has the power of increasing its adverbs to any extent, and that the chief process by which a word may be converted into an adverb, is by placing it in immediate connexion with the verb or adjective.
It should, perhaps, be here noticed, 1st, that Maori inclines to this mode of construction. Thus, where we should say, the women and the children must all roll the log; a native would most probably employ the adverb; e. g., Huri tane huri wahine. Such a mode of construction, though loose, is, however, concise and emphatic. ”

“ Verbs which assume the form of a noun.—It has been already observed that Maori inclines to the substantive form; and that such is only natural will be obvious to anyone who will reflect that it is more {151}easy for an unpolished mind to conceive of things as existences, than to trace them through the various modifications of act denoted in a verb. In many instances, indeed, a New Zealander is compelled to adopt this form, in consequence of the Maori verb not supplying any satisfactory form for the infinitive mood, and the participles. ”

“ In those languages the verb is a leading word in the sentence, and by it exclusively is the office of affirmation or predication performed.
In Maori, on the contrary, a pure genuine verb is by no means of frequent occurrence: almost any word denoting a thing, or quality, is capable of sustaining that office; and predication is as frequently implied as expressed. In considering, therefore, the Maori verbs, we shall have to examine, not only those words which have been invested with the properties belonging to that class; but also those forms in which no mark of predication is expressed. ”

“ We think that we are distinctly warranted by the analogy of the language to treat the books of the Old and New Testaments as proper names, and prefix a to them; as in the following examples, kei a Kenehi, kei a Roma. Such portions however, as the Psalms, the Law, the Acts, the Revelations, &c., might, we think, be most safely considered as appellatives. Such an usage has obtained in English, and will not, we believe, be thought a novelty in Maori, by any one who attends to such sentences as the following:
Kowai hei whakahua i ta tatou whangai hau? I a wai? i a Tu. Ko hea te haua mai na? ”

“ The man who is pelting his fowls that they may be soon dead! Tanutanu rawa kia ngaro, bury, bury deep, that it may be concealed; (a song.) Whiua, kia mamae, beat it that it may be pained; na koutou i aki mai kia tata, it was you who pressed forward so as to be near.
Note.—There is a distinction between kia and ki te, when prefixed to a verb in the infinitive, which should be noticed. Kia is very seldom prefixed to a verb in the active voice,—ki te almost always; e. g., Haere ki te to i te waka. We could not say kia to.
(2.) Kia is almost always prefixed to the passive verb; ki te very seldom ”

“ Those who attend to the genius of the language (vid. preliminary remarks, pages 102 and 103, and Syntax of Nouns, sec. 3, page 114) will, we think, find but little difficulty in the question. They will see that there are no participles, adverbs, or relative pronouns, in Maori, and that, therefore, we must not be surprised at a construction which, though loose, is admirably adapted to supply the defect. ”

“ Here, we conceive, ko tou utu mo to hanganga i te whare is the subject, and tena the predicate.
In examining the nature of Maori propositions, the student will soon notice that they are characterized by a remarkable brevity and abruptness, as well as by the frequent occurrence of ellipses. As a New Zealander is generally unequal to a train of consecutive thought, so also is his language inadequate to exhibit with accuracy the various processes of the civilized intellect, such as comparing, abstracting, &c., or indeed any ideas beyond the simple and monotonous details of his daily life. ”

“ Sometimes, indeed, we find the singular possessive pronouns thus resolved; e. g., kei tenei taha oku, on this side of me. If it had not been for nei the speaker would have said toku taha. The nei however attracts the te, and thus resolves toku into its component parts.
15. He differs in its uses from te tahi and e tahi.
(a) He, of itself, often implies the verb substantive. (Vid. rule 3) .
(b) He is very seldom found after a preposition. It is almost always found in the nominative case after the substantive verb; e. g., he tangata tenei; he kino kau koutou. ”

“ The passive is the root varied in its termination; e. g. e patua ana ahau, I am struck.
Note.—The student will find, as we proceed, that the Maori passive differs in some respects from that of the English, Latin and Greek.
§. 9. The neuter expresses being, or a state or condition of being; when the agent and the object acted upon coincide, and the event is properly neither {45}action nor passion, but rather something between both: as I am, I sleep, I walk." [14]
Note.—Verbs derived from the simple adjective will generally rank under the head of neuter. ”

“ He tangata Atua, ka puta mai ki a ia te kai, ka whiua te tahi ki tahaki, hei whakahere i tona Atua, mana ka pau i te kuri ranei, mana ka pau i te poaka ranei. A man who has a God, if food is brought to him (to the man) , part (of it) is thrown to one side as an offering to his God, (as chance may have it) it may be eaten by the dog, or it may be eaten by the pig. Nana ka nui te hau, nana ka iti, even though the wind be strong, even though it be light, (still does he carry on.)
To this interesting point of Maori criticism we shall return when we treat on the tenses ”

“ The Superlative degree. Maori has no direct form to mark the superlative, but expresses it by various circumlocutions: (a.) by the definite article prefixed, with, or without some word of intensity: e. g., Ko au te kaumatua, I am the eldest son; ko te tino nohinohi {125}rawa tena, that is the least; ko te nui tenei o nga rakau katoa, this is the largest (lit. the large one) of all the trees. (b.) The form for the comparative sometimes necessarily implies the sense of the superlative: e. g., he tino mohio ia i nga tangata katoa, he is the most wise of all men. ”

“ As distinctions between gender, number, case, and person, are very rare in Maori, and as, moreover, a main business of syntax consists in the adjusting of their several claims, we may hope that our work here will be neither complicated, nor extended. ”

“ Kia is capable of being used in all the persons of the imperative. It is the particle most frequently used with the first person. In the second, it is chiefly used with verbalized adjectives; though occasionally it is prefixed to the verb. In the third, it is used before either adjective or verb, and by its help we may, perhaps, make the best approximation to a form of the imperative in which Maori has been heretofore deficient ”

“ The imperative mood of Maori abounds in more minute distinctions than any other part of the verb. We present them all here; chiefly because the sentences in which they occur are, for the most part, simple.
1. The most common form for expressing the imperative of an active verb is by its passive; e. g.,
For the passive voice, see table under that head. ”

“ A is also prefixed to the names of places, and to prepositions, and adverbs which have assumed the form of substantives, when in the nominative case; e. g.
Kua horo a Pukerangiora, Pukerangiora (the fort) has been stormed. Kua tukua atu e ahau a Whangarei mo Hone, I have given Whangarei to John. Kua kainga a runga o nga puka nei, the tops of the cabbage have been eaten off. A hea? what place? A Rangitoto. Note.—Sometimes a is prefixed to the name of the place when the people of the place, and not the place itself, are intended; e. g. ka mate i a Waikato, will be killed by Waikato. ”

“ Repetition of Verbs.—The same verb will frequently be repeated in Maori when contingency, intensity, distribution, diversity, &c., are intended, and, particularly, when the speaker desires to be impressive and emphatic; e. g., Ko te mea i tupono i tupono: ko te mea i kahore i kahore, (the karakia Maori) is all a work of chance: sometimes there is a successful hit, sometimes a failure, lit., that which hit the mark hit it, that which did not did not ”

“ The following examples illustrate the various modes in which the Maori verb adopts the substantive form.
The student will observe that even passive verbs will submit to the same operation, and receive the sign of the substantive, (viz. the article) before them; e. g., Tenei au te tu atu nei, here am I the standing towards (you) ; he kainga hou te rapua nei, a new country is the being sought, i. e., is what we are seeking for; ko koe te korerotia nei, it is you who are the being talked about; he noho aha tau? what are you sitting for? kua oti te keri, it is finished, the being dug ”

“ 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. ”

“ Ma Hone e whakaki o koutou peke, pera hoki me o matou, John will fill your bags as full as ours; it should be, kia penei me o matou. It may be here noted that when two tenses are connected together, not in the way of government, but are rather in apposition with each other, the latter will generally be the same as, or at least correspond to, the former; e. g., the following constructions are erroneous:—Korerotia atu, mea ana, speak, saying; it should be, meatia. A ki atu ana a Hone, ka mea; it should be, mea ana. Ka tahi ahau i kite, now for the first time have I seen; it should be ka kite. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Occasionally, however, we find the passive form used, when the meaning of the verb is neuter; e. g.
Hapainga, let us start. Takiritia, idem. Kokiritia, dash forward (in pursuit, &c.) Hoea tatou, let us paddle.
Sometimes both active and neuter verbs will take the verbal prefixes e, kia, hei, me, kaua, aua, kei, before them to denote the imperative.
{40} (c) E is used sometimes to denote the imperative of active and neuter verbs. It is chiefly used with the second person singular, dual, and plural.
It is never found in the first person singular ”

“ The following are examples of the verbal noun as used for the finite verb:—me he mea ko te mahuetanga {152}o to matou waka, if it had been the leaving of our canoe, i. e., if our canoe had been left to us; kei riri mai ia ki te kai; te taunga iho—ko ia, ko tana waka, lest he (the God) be angry at the food (not having been given) —the alighting (upon him, the priest) , &c., i. e., and should then alight upon him, &c.; haere atu ana a Rona ki te kawe wai, Ka pouri. Te kanganga ki te marama. Te tino tikinga iho nei, ka tae ki a Rona, Rona (the man in the moon) goes to fetch water. It is dark. ”

“ It may be naturally expected that, in an unpolished language like Maori, there should not be much that is artificial, or complicated, in the arrangement of tenses. Such we believe to be the case. It is true that some would contend for as many tenses as may be found in English ”

“ Note.—We can scarcely recognize the verbal particles as copulas. We believe that their exclusive use is, to denote time.
Propositions, or sentences, we divided (page 37) into simple and compound. Another division is here necessary; viz., into complex and incomplex. An incomplex proposition is that whose subject and predicate are simple terms; e. g., He hoiho tenei, this is a horse.
{103}A complex proposition is that which contains some qualifying, or otherwise modifying, term in connexion with either subject or predicate; e. g., I mate a Hone ki reira. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Some perhaps may object to our regarding a as an article, and may remind us of the definition that an article is "a word prefixed to substantives to point them out, and show how far their signification extends." ”