(b.) It is also the article by which the names of individuals and tribes are always preceded; e. g.
- a Hone, kei a Hone with John; i a Ngapuhi.
Note 1.—When the particle ko is prefixed to either the proper name, or the pronoun, a is omitted; e. g.
- ko Hone, ko ia.
(2) It is also omitted after the prepositions e, ma, mo, no, na, o, a. The prepositions with which it is retained are i, ki, kei, and their compounds—i runga i, &c.; e. g.
- i runga i a Hone, above John.
Note 2.—Europeans who have not made the language a study, often very incorrectly substitute e for a before a proper name; e. g., they will say, kei hea e te Waru, where is te Waru, and again kua tae mai e Nanaia, Nanaia has arrived. E, as we shall show hereafter, is the sign of the vocative case. A is omitted before such words as the following, kei nga Pakeha, kei nga Maori, &c.
Note 3.—A is sometimes in Waikato prefixed to appellatives; e. g. ki a tuahangata, a papa, a kara.
(c.) 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.