For further illustrations of the adverbs as auxiliaries the student is referred to chapter 9, pages 78, 79, &c. For the negative adverbs, as employed with the verb, vid. next chapter.
Of the Prepositions.—The use of these as auxiliaries is to supply the place of the verb substantive when no verb is expressed in the sentence; e. g., naku tenei, this is mine; kei hea? where is it? I a au i runga, when I was at the Southward. The tenses they denote, and those also which they admit after them, have been mentioned, chapter 8. Other notices respecting them will be found in the next chapter. For the pronouns as auxiliaries, vid. page 35.[40]
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 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. That these two parts of speech strongly partake of the nature of a noun is well known; and we may therefore be prepared to find the forms for denoting them in Maori exhibit a mixed character; i. e., to be a kind of compound of the verb and the noun. It may be added, also, that, as in some Latin authors, the infinitive mood is often used for the finite verb;[41] so also, in Maori, will the verbal noun, especially when a brief and animated mode of diction is desired, be found very frequently to occupy the place of the verb.
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; ka tata ahau te patua e koe, I am near, the being beaten by you; he mohio koe? are you a knowing? i. e., do you know anything about it?
The following are examples of the verbal noun as used for the finite verb:—me he mea ko te mahuetanga 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. The cursing at the moon. The instant coming down to him, &c., i. e., he cursed at the moon, and she in anger came down to him.
Note.—More examples of this very animated mode of narration might be easily adduced. The student will find several others scattered throughout this work. We may observe, also, that the very frequent use of this form by the natives constitutes one remarkable feature by which the language, as spoken by him, differs from that spoken by the foreigner.
As a further illustration of the way in which predication in Maori is sometimes performed by the substantive, the following forms may be mentioned:—he mea whakamaori no te reo pakeha, a thing translated from the foreigner's tongue, i. e., it was translated from, &c. Na Hone tenei, he mea ho atu na Pita,—this is John's, it was presented to him by Pita: lit. it was a thing presented, &c. Akuanei, he noho atu te otinga, presently a remaining away will be the end, i. e., (we shall find that) he will remain away.
It should be also noted that the following verbs always take the substantive form after them, viz., hohoro, oti, hei, and ahei, pau, taea, tau, timata, heoi ano, kati, poto; e. g., timata te mahi, commence to work; kati te tahae, stop thieving, &c.
Note.—These verbs, it would appear, deserve most justly the appellation of "auxiliaries," 1st, as they are real verbs; and 2ndly, as by their help we can approximate to many forms of the verb in other languages. For example, kua oti te tiki, mai, has been fetched hence; e kore e ahei te korero, cannot divulge.