1st. Nouns derived from verbs, i. e., the verb, in its simple form, used as a noun; e. g.,
- He noho noa iho taku, it is a simple sitting of mine; I have no fixed object in stopping (here.)
- He haere pai to haere? Is your going a good going, i. e., are you going with good intent?
(2.) Nouns derived from adjectives; e. g.,
- He aha te pai o tena mea? what is the worth of that thing?
- Keihea te pakaru, where is the broken place?
(3.) Nouns derived from adverbs and prepositions, e. g.
- He kore rawa, it is nil.
- Engari a reira e pai ana, there (or that place) is better.
- Kua ki a roto, the inside is full.
- Parua a tua, coat the other side (with raupo.)
(4.) Compound Words. These are always formed by two words placed in immediate juxta-position, without any elision of either; e. g.
- Hia kai, (desire food) hunger; mate moe, (craving sleep), sleepiness; hoa riri, (angry friend), enemy; mahi atawhai, (cherishing act, &c.) a cherishing, &c.; kai whakaako, (one that teaches) a teacher; kai whakamarie, (one that pacifies) a pacifier; tangata atua, a man having a God; tangata pakeha, a man having a European to live with him; he hunga kainga, a people having a place to reside on; ahu taonga (bent on gain) avariciousness; ahu whenua, (having the mind occupied with the earth) industriousness, or peaceableness; whenua rangatira, (a noble land, not disturbed by invasions) peace; houhanga rongo, making peace; ngakau whakakake, pride; he whare kore, (a no house) homelessness; he horoi kore (a no soap) soaplessness; whakaaro kore, thoughtlessness, &c.
(c.) Verbal nouns are well worthy of the attention of the critical student. They are of very extensive uses in Maori, and a proper introduction of them will give animation and elegance to the sentence. The rules for their formation will be found hereafter. See verbs.
They are generally employed to denote time, place, object, means, or some accompaniment on, or relation of the act, or quality of the ground form.—Other uses of them will be mentioned in the syntax.