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.
Some speakers are often guilty of solecisms from not remembering that a is not prefixed to any of the oblique cases of the names of places. Thus we heard some old residents in the land say, Haere ki a Pokuru, Go to Pokuru. Haere ki a Waitemata, Go to Waitemata. According to this form Pokuru, and Waitemata are not places, but persons.
(d.) A is always prefixed to any inanimate thing to which a name has been given; i. e. to trees, canoes, ships, boats, meres,[5] guns, &c.; e. g.
- Kei te tua i a Ruhaia, he is cutting down (the tree) Ruhaia. E waihape ana a Karapaina, Columbine is tacking. Mo to tahaetanga i a Pahikoura for your having stolen (the mere[5]) Pahikoura.
- I toa ai a Hongi i whakawirinaki ia ki tana pu ki a Tanumia, Hongi was brave because he trusted in his gun Tanumia.
Note.—Stars also come under the operation of this rule, e. g.
- Ko wai tena whetu i runga i a Tawera, what star is that above Tawera?[6]
- Kua ara a Matariki,[7] Matariki has made his appearance.
Houses, Caves, and such like, are regulated by rule (c), e. g.
- Heoi ano nga tangata kei a Puru o Waikato, all the people have mustered off to Puruowaikato—Wherowhero's house on the Waikato river.
If the above rules be correct—and we are persuaded that the candid inquirer will assent to them, the following remarks may, perhaps, be worthy the consideration of our Missionary brethren.
1st. 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: