POTENTIAL AND SUBJUNCTIVE MOODS.
Present and imperfect.—(For examples of these vid. on e page 136, on ka 138, and on ai 146), ko ahau kia mate, ko ia kia ora; vid. on kia (§. c. 1,) also our remarks on ahei, taea, &c., as auxiliaries.
Pluperfect.—Kua riro au, na te mate o taku kotiro i noho ai, I would have gone; but I remained in consequence of the sickness of my daughter: lit., I departed, my daughter's sickness was the cause of my having remained; e noho ana, na Hone i ngare, he would have stopped, but John sent him: lit., he is remaining, John sent him; E murua a Hone, naku i ora ai, John would have been plundered, but I saved him; me i kahore ahau kua mate, if it had not been for me, he would have died; kua hemo ke ahau, me i kaua ahau te whakapono, I should have fainted if I had not believed; penei kua ora, in that case he would have been saved; ka hua ahau, i haere ai, e rongo; I thought that they would have listened (which) was the cause of (my) having gone; maku i runga e kore e marere, when I am at the Southward (it) is never granted; ma raua e rere e kore e hohoro a Raiana, when they both run, Lion does not make haste; me i maku e keri, keihea? if it had not been for me to dig it where (should I have been now)? i. e., I should have dug to a vast distance.[45]
The following combinations of times are incorrect: i te mea i arahina nga Hurai, while the Jews were being led; it should be e arahina ana. I kite hoki ratou i a ia, a, i rere, for they saw him and fled; it should be, a, rere ana. To ratou taenga atu ki te pa, i reira ano mahara ana ratou ki a ia, and when they had reached the pa, they then recognised him; it should be na, ka mahara, &c. 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.
Note.—Sometimes, however, we meet with exceptions to this rule: (1) when there is a clear case for the operation of epanorthosis; (2) when the particles a or na intervene.
The character of the sentence will sometimes be found to affect the time of the verb; as, for example, in animated narration, where a large measure of certainty, or when contingency is to be denoted, &c.; e. g., Kihai i u ki uta, kua tae ki te whare, kua totoro ki te maripi, ki te paoka, E kai ana, he had not landed, before he had reached the house, had stretched out (his hand) to the knife and fork, (he) is eating, i. e., immediately as soon as he landed he began to eat; E pa ma, kia kaha, Kahore kua u, My friends be strong, (in pulling the oar), O no, we have landed, i. e., we are close to shore. A request or command, given to be conveyed to another, will often be put into the imperative, just as if the individual, to whom the request, &c., is to be delivered, were really present; e. g., Mea atu ki a Hone, Taihoa e haere, say to John, Don't go for a while. E kite koe i a te Keha, Haere mai, if you see Keha (say to him), Come here.
Note.—This form is generally adopted when the speaker wishes to be animated and abrupt. Sometimes, as in the first example, it is the only form admissible.
Verbs associated to qualify each other.—It should here also be noted that when two verbs are associated together, the latter of which is modified in meaning by the former, in a way somewhat similar to that in which the infinitive in Latin is modified by its governing verb, the two verbs will, generally, be in the same tense and voice; e. g., Kua haere, kua koroheke hoki, he has begun to get old, lit., he is gone, he is old; kei anga koe, kei korero, don't you go and say, &c.; e aratakina ana, e patua ana, it is led to be killed.
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; e pakaru ana, e pakaru ana ki tana mahi (it does not much signify) if it breaks, it is broken in his service; okioki, okioki atu ki a i a, trust, trust in him, i. e., place your whole trust in, &c.; haere ka haere, kai ka kai, in all his goings, in all his eatings, i. e., whenever he walks, or eats, (he retains the same practice); heoi ano ra, heoi ano, that is all about it, that is all about it; hapai ana, hapai ana, raise both ends at the same time; i. e., while you raise, I raise.
Note.—A similar usage obtains in other parts of the language; e. g., ko wai, ko wai te haere? who, who is to go? ko tera tera, that is another, or a different one; he kanohi he kanohi, face to face; ko Roka ano Roka, ko ahau ano ahau? are Roka (my wife) and I different persons? lit., Is Roka Roka, and (am) I I?
Sometimes the former verb will assume the form of the verbal noun; e. g., te haerenga i haere ai, the going with which he went, i. e., so on he proceeded; na, ko te tino riringa i riri ai, so he was very angry.
Note.—The learned student need not be reminded of the remarkable parallel which Maori finds to the four last rules in Hebrew. From this cause it will be sometimes found that an exactly literal translation will be more idiomatic than another. Thus Gen. 1, 7, "dying thou shalt die" could not be rendered more idiomatic than if it be done literally: "na, ko te matenga e mate ai koe."
Of the Passive Verbs.—It has been already observed (p.p. 49, 56) that passive verbs are often used in Maori in a somewhat more extended sense than is met with in most languages. It may naturally, therefore, be expected that their use should be more frequent than that of active verbs: and such we believe to be the case,—Maori seeming to incline peculiarly to the passive mode or form of statement, especially in the secondary clauses of a sentence. Independently of other uses which they subserve, (such as often supplying a more animated style of narration, being sometimes the more convenient—as being the more loose or general—mode in which to advance a sentiment, &c.), there are two of considerable importance which may be here noticed. 1st. They are most frequently employed when the relative pronoun is understood, and are generally equivalent to the active verb with ai or nei, &c., after it; e. g., nga mahi i wakahaua e ia, the works which were ordered by him. The active form here, without ai after it, would be seldom used. Vid. also, the examples p.p. 49, 51. 2ndly. They sometimes supply the place of a preposition; e. g., he aha te mea e omakia nei? what is the matter about which it is being run? Te tangata i korerotia nei, the man about whom we were talking. The following sentence, ka korero ahau ki te whakapakoko, literally means, I will talk to the image; it should have been, ka korerotia te whakapakoko. This usage, however, does not extend to all the prepositions; and, when some of them are understood, the verb will require ai after it. The following sentence, for example, is erroneous: te tangata e kainga ana te poaka,the man by whom the pig is eaten; it should be e kai ana, or e kai nei, or e kainga ai.
Constructions will not unfrequently be found in which the active form usurps the place of the passive, and vice versa; e. g., Ko tena kua hohoro te horoi, let that be first washed; kua tahu te kai o te kainga nei, the food of the settlement has been kindled, i. e., the oven is kindled for cooking; Kei te uta to matou waka, our canoe is loading; Ko tehea te patu? which is to be killed? ko tera kua panga noa ake, that has been much longer on the fire: lit., has been thrown; taria e kawhaki te poti, let not the boat be taken away (by you) for a while; he mea tiki, a thing fetched; kua oti te keri, it is finished, the being dug; me wero e koe, it must be (or, let it be) stabbed by you; ka timata tena whenua, te tua, that land has commenced (I mean) the being felled; kei reira, a Hone e tanu ana, there John (lies) buried; Ka te arai taku ahi e koe, my fire is being stopped up by you, i. e., you are intercepting the communication, &c.; kia rua nga waka e hoe mai e koe, let there be two canoes that will be paddled here by you. The following form is not frequent:—kei te atawhaitia, it the (pig) is being taken care of; kei te takina te kai, the food is being taken off (the fire). When ambiguity might arise from the object of the action being considered as the agent, the passive form is almost always used; e. g., ka poto nga tangata o reira te kitea, when all the men of that place have been seen; ka tata tena tangata te nehua, that man is near being buried.
Neuter Verbs which assume the passive form.—Some neuter verbs assume the passive form (1) without any material alteration of meaning; e. g., ka hokia he huanga, if it is come backwards and forwards to you, it is because I am a relation.[46] (2.) Most frequently, however, they derive a transitive meaning from the change. Thus, in the example already adduced, page 50, horihori, to tell falsehoods; te mea i horihoria e koe he tangata, the thing which you erroneously said was a man. Again,—Tangi, to cry: te tupapaku e tangihia nei, the corpse which is being cried, i. e., which is the subject of the crying; he tangata haurangi, a mad person; te tangata i haurangitia nei, a person for whom another is bewildered.
[38] It is true that when kua represents the pluperfect, or the priority of one action to another, it may be frequently found in connexion with ko. But this, we think, is a further confirmation of the distinction for which we contend. For the expression "he had loved us" is clearly more definite than "he loved us,"—the former implying that that affection had been entertained before some past act,—the latter simply affirming that it was entertained, without reference to any date. Ko we defined, page 106, as the article of specification and emphasis, and it is quite natural that it should be associated with a perfect to denote a pluperfect,—its office, in such a construction, being to point out the individual who may be emphatically said to have performed the act—whose was the act which was antecedent, or past. The sentence "ko ia kua atawhai," means he is the person who was first kind. This emphatic use of the word ko has been already illustrated under the head of comparison, adjectives; the sentence "ko tenei te nui o nga rakau" meaning this is the large one of the trees; i. e., this is the one of which we may (emphatically) say, It is large. So, also, in the following,—"akuanei ko Hone kua tae," the meaning is presently, it will be John who (emphatically) has got there; i. e., John will have got there first.
[39] The student will see in this, and the other examples, that the noun, as is very usual in Maori, assumes the form of a verb. To translate literally such verbs into English is often impossible.
[40] Following is a connected view of some of the principal means by which the defect of the substantive verb is supplied or implied, in Maori: he kuri tenei this is a dog. Tenei a Hone, This is John. Tika rawa, it is very correct. Ki te whai hau i te po nei, if there be wind in the night, &c. Ki te wa hau, &c., idem. Ka ai au hei kianga mai mau, I am for an ordering for you, i. e., You find in me one that will obey, &c. Waiho, and sometimes meinga, are often used instead of ai. E ai ki tana, it is according to his, i. e., as he affirms.
The following form is worthy of notice, Rokohanga rawatanga atu e ahau, ko Raiana! on my reaching (that place) there was Lion; rokohanga atu, ko te tahi tangata o Taupo i Maungatautari e noho ana, when I got (there) there was a man of, &c. Taku hoenga ki roto ko te waka o Hone, as I was paddling up the river, lo, there was the canoe of John, &c. Some foreigners, we observe, use tera taua for this form. We have never heard anything like it in Waikato. Hei te and ki te (vid. page 62) will often, also, seem to lose their distinctive meaning in that of the verb substantive; e. g., hei te pera me tou, let it be like yours.
[41] It will also be recollected that the gerunds and participles will, in that language, often subserve the same office. Thus we have, ante domandum, before they are tamed; urit videndo, he burns when he looks; cum Epicurus voluptate metiens summum bonum, whereas Epicurus who measures the chief good by pleasure.
[42] This is an exception to what we find in English, and other languages, the finite verb in them being very seldom found after an oblique case; i. e., after any case beside the nominative, unless the relative, or the personal pronoun with some conjunction, intervene. We may observe, also, that the verbal particles will be often prefixed to other words beside the verb; e. g., e kore koe e pai kia mau e hanga? Are you not willing that you should do it? kia mou ai te kainga, that the land should be yours.
[43] That the English language had once a similar tendency might, we think, be shewn by many examples. Thus we hear, "have pity on me," "have her forth," "I have remembrance of thee in my prayer." Many of our tenses, also, are formed by this auxiliary; e. g., "I have seen," "he had gone," "I would have loved, &c." The frequent use, also, of this form in the Greek may be seen in Donnegan's Greek Lexicon, under "echo," to hold.
[44] As the English language supplies but few illustrations of this mode of construction, we will here lay before the student some extracts from Professor Lee's Hebrew Grammar, as well to shew how much this usage obtains in Oriental languages, as to enable him to enter more readily into the subject. Professor L. says, page 328, "any writer commencing his narrative, will necessarily speak of past, present, or future events with reference to the period in which his statement is made." This, he says, is the "absolute use of the tense." Again, "A person may speak of those events with reference to some other period, or event, already introduced into the context. This is the relative use—Hence, a preterite connected with another preterite will be equivalent to our pluperfect; a present following a preterite to our imperfect, and so on." Again, page 330, "They, the Arabians, consider the present tense as of two kinds; one they term the real present, which is what our grammarians always understand by the present tense. The other they term the present as to the narration; by which they mean the time contemporary with any event, and which may therefore be considered as present with it, although past, present, or future with regard to the real or absolute present tense." In page 334 is a good illustration from the Persian: "last night I go to the house of a friend, and there see a delightful assembly, and enjoy a most pleasing spectacle." The student will see in the above example that go, see, and enjoy, are relative presents, being presents to last night, the time in which the speaker, in his imagination, now places himself. This mode of construction abounds in the O. and N. T., vid., for example, Mark xiv., he saw Levi and says to him. Says, here, is present to saw, though past to the time of the narration.
[45] Note.—The student is recommended to notice the various forms contained in the preceding table, and to endeavour to add to them from his own observation. It would also be most useful to throw into one form all the various examples of simple and compound times that he will find in pages 37, 41, to 44, as well also as those contained in the preceding part of this chapter.
[46] The passive verbs wheterongia, titahangia, &c., to which we allude, page 39, note, may, we think, on reflection, be most correctly reduced to this head.
CHAPTER XX.
OF THE PREPOSITIONS, ADVERBS, AND CONJUNCTIONS.
These have been considered at large in chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, and require now but little notice. We proceed to consider the prepositions which follow the verbs, and to offer a few other remarks respecting them.
Verbal postfixes.—An active verb will (as was observed page 60) take i after it, to denote the object of the action. Sometimes, however, ki will be found to supply its place; e. g., mohio ki a ia, matau ki a ia, wehi ki a ia, whakaaro ki tena mea, karanga ki a ia, kua mau ki te pu, seized his gun. Whiwhi ki te toki, obtain an axe, &c.
Between these two prepositions, however, as verbal postfixes, there is often a very important difference; e. g., na ka whakatiki ahau i a ia ki te kai, so I deprived him of food, i. e., I withheld food from him; na te aha koe i kaiponu ai i to paraikete ki a au? why did you withhold your blanket from me? he pakeha hei whakawhiwhi i a matou ki te kakahu, an European to make us possess clothes; ki te hoko atu i taku poaka ki te tahi paraikete moku, to sell my pig for a blanket for myself. Europeans generally employ mo, but erroneously. Sometimes other prepositions will occupy the place of i; ka haere ahau ki te whangai i taku kete riwai ma taku poaka, I will go feed my basket of potatoes for my pig, i. e., I will feed my pigs with my basket of potatoes; hei patu moku, to strike me with,—a form similar to hei patu i a au.
Note.—Verbal nouns will take the same case as their roots. Occasionally no sign of case will follow the active verb, (1) when the verb is preceded by such auxiliaries as taea, pau, taihoa, &c., e. g., e kore e taea e ahau te hopu tena poaka, it cannot be accomplished by me (I mean) the catching that pig; or, e kore e taea tena poaka e au, te hopu. (2.) When the verb is preceded by the particle me, or by the prepositions na and ma; e. g., me hopu te poaka e koe, the pig must be caught by you; naku i hopu tena, the having caught that (pig) was mine. To this rule, exceptions are sometimes heard.
Neuter Verbs will sometimes take an accusative case of the noun proper to their own signification; e. g., e karakia ana i tana karakia, he is praying his prayers; e kakahu ana i ona, he is garmenting his clothes; i. e., is putting them on.
Note.—Considerable variation will be found in the prepositions which follow such verbs as heoi, ka tahi, &c.; e. g., heoi ano te koti pai nou, the only good coat is yours; ka tahi ano te koti pai, nou, idem; manawa te tangata korero teka, he pakeha (Taranaki), a European is the greatest person for telling falsehoods; ka tahi ano taku tangata kino, ko koe (or ki a koe, or kei a koe); ka tahi ano tenei huarahi ka takahia ki a koe, you are the first person who has trodden this path; if it had been e koe, the meaning would have been you now for the first time walk this road; often, also, the preposition will be omitted, and the noun put into the nominative; e. g., noho rawa atu he whenua ke, settled in a foreign land; ka whakamoea atu he tangata ke, given in marriage to another man; te huihuinga mai o Mokau, o whea, o whea, ko te Wherowhero, the musterings of Mokau, &c., &c., are to Wherowhero, i. e., Wherowhero is the grand object of interest.
Between i and ki when following neuter verbs, or adjectives, there is often a considerable difference; e. g., mate ki, desirous of; mate i, killed by; kaha i te kino, stronger than sin, i. e., overcoming it; kaha ki te kino, strong in sinning; ngakau kore ki tana kupu, disinclined to, &c.; ngakau kore i, discouraged by.
Foreigners often err in the use of these, and other prepositions; e. g., i a ia ki reira, while he was there; it should be, i reira. E aha ana ia ki reira? What is he doing there? it should be i reira. Kati ki kona; it should be i kona. E mea ana ahau kia kai i te Onewhero, I am thinking of taking a meal at Onewhero; it should be, ki te Onewhero. Hei a wai ranei te pono? hei a Maihi ranei, hei a Pita ranei? with whom is the truth? with Marsh or with Peter? it should be, I a wai, &c. He aha te tikanga o taua kupu nei kei a Matiu? what is the meaning of that expression in Matthew? it should be i a Matiu. Again,—kahore he mea no te kainga nei hei kai, there is nothing in this settlement for food; it should be, o te kainga nei. Enei kupu no te pukapuka, these words of the book; it should be, o te pukapuka. Ko nga mea katoa no waho, all the things outside; it should be o waho. He kahore urupa o Kawhia i kawea mai ai ki konei? Was there no grave in Kawhia that you brought him here? it should be, no Kawhia. Again,—he mea tiki i toku whare, a thing fetched from my house. The meaning of this, as it stands, is "a thing to fetch my house;" it should be, no toku whare, as in the following proverb: "he toka hapai mai no nga whenua." In constructions like these, the agent will take either e or na before it, but most frequently the latter. In some tribes to the Southward of Waikato, the following form is in common use:—he pakeke ou, yours are hardnesses, i. e., you are a hard person; he makariri oku i te anu, I have colds from the cold (air). The singular forms tou and toku are mostly used in Waikato, or the preposition no; e. g., he pakeke nou, and makariri noku, or toku.
Prepositions are sometimes used where a foreigner would expect a verbal particle; e. g., Kei te takoto a Hone, John is lying down; i te mate ahau, I was poorly; No te tarai ahau i tena wahi, I have been hoeing that place. This form belongs chiefly to Ngapuhi. Ka tae te pakeke o te oneone nei! kahore i te kohatu! How hard this soil is! it is not at a stone, i. e., it is like a stone. Kahore ahau i te kite, I don't see. This last form is used chiefly in the districts Southward of Waikato.
Adverbs.—Most of the adverbs will (as was observed, page 85) assume the form of the word with which they are connected; e. g., rapu marie, rapua marietia, rapunga marietanga, &c. In some districts, however, they will assume the form of the verbal noun, after the passive voice; e. g., rapua marietanga. Instances will, also, occasionally be found in all parts of the island in which they undergo no change; e. g., whiua pena, throw it in that direction. Whiua penatia is, throw it in that manner.
Negative Adverbs.—Most of these will, when in connexion with the verb, take a verbal particle before, or after, them; e. g., hore rawa kia pai; kahore i pai, or (sometimes), kahore e pai; kihai i[47] pai; e kore e pai; aua e haere, kiano i haere noa, e hara i a au, it is not mine, or, it is different from me (i. e., it was not I), &c.
Kihai i and kahore i are most frequently used indifferently one for the other. An experienced speaker will, however, we think, sometimes notice points of difference, and particularly that kihai i is most frequently employed when reference is made to an act previous to a past act, and kahore i when some allusion is made to the present time. Thus, in the following sentence, nau i kai nga kai kihai nei i tika kia kainga e te mea noa, we should prefer kahore nei i to denote which was not, and is not, lawful to be eaten by a person not tapu. In Waikato, haunga with kahore sometimes governs a genitive case; e. g., Kahore haunga o tena. Kahore, when it takes a possessive case after it, will require it to be in the plural number; e. g., Kahore aku moni, I have no money, lit., there is a negativeness of my monies. So also the particle u, vid. page 93.
In answering a question, the answer will always be regulated by the way in which the question is put, e. g., Kahore i pai? ae; Was he not willing? Yes; i. e., Yes, he was not willing. If the answer was intended to be affirmative, the speaker would have said "I pai ano."
[47] Some foreigners, we observe, omit the i after kihai, when it immediately follows it. That this error, however, arises from the I being blended into the ai of kihai in the pronunciation is clear from its being distinctly heard when a word intervenes to prevent elision, as in the following example:—kihai ahau i pai.