Hence it will, almost always, be prefixed to the members of the body, to land enjoyed by inheritance, to sickness, the productions of nature, such as fruits, &c., &c. Thus, we seldom hear, āku ringaringa; nāku tena oneone; he mate nāku; o is almost always employed. Again, we always hear, noku i haere mai nei, since I came here; mou i tutu, because you were disobedient; nona te he, his was the error.
(c.) O is always employed in talking of garments and houses, which are in wear, use, &c. Thus, naku tena whare means, I built that house, Noku, &c., I dwell in it.
§ 20. A is prefixed to the agent, and implies that the noun, which is connected with that agent, is either an act of it, or an instrument with which, or sometimes a thing upon which the action is performed, such as tools, cultivations, food, words, &c., (as kupu, korero; because they are fashioned by the tongue); e. g., taku toki; naku tena mara, maku te kupu ki mua; kai mau.
§ 21. When the action is intransitive, o is generally employed; e. g. te toronga atu o te ringa o Hone; toku haerenga. To this rule, however, there are many exceptions.
Note.—Visitors, slaves, or servants, children; (i. e. own children; or children of whom the individual has the management), husband, (tane), wife, (wahine), will take the a; when, however, hoa, ariki, rangatira, matua, whanaunga, are used, o will be prefixed. Reo also will take o; (the voice, being a part of the man). Oranga, also though it applies to food, will take o after it; e. g. kai hei oranga mo matou, food to support us. In the following passage "nona te whiunga i mau ai to tatou rongo," the chastisement of our peace was upon him, the o in the nona has, we think, supplied a more concise and clear rendering than could have been attained without it.—If it had been, "Nana te whiunga, &c.," we should have understood that it was he who inflicted, instead of suffered the chastisement. It should be remembered that there are two pronunciations of taku, and tana; viz., tăku, and tāku, tăna, and tāna; the short a corresponds to the o; the long a to the a of ma and na. Of tou, yours, there are also two pronunciations; viz., tou, and to, the former corresponds to the o of mona; the latter sometimes to the a of mana.
Note.—The to is very frequently used instead of the tou—chiefly in those parts of the sentence in which euphony requires that the sound should not be prolonged.
The importance of attending to these distinctions between the o and the a may be shewn by a few examples; he hangi mau, is an oven with which you may cook food; he hangi mou, is an oven in which you are to be cooked, and would be a most offensive curse; he taua maku is a party with which I may attack another; he taua moku, is a party come to attack me; te ngutu o Hone, is John's lip; te ngutu a Hone is his word, or report, &c.
[36] The tua is the religious ceremony performed by the father, or the Ariki of the tribe, when the child was born, to remove the tapu from the mother and the settlement.