Grammar of the New Zealand language (2nd edition)

by Robert Maunsell

Gender of Nouns.—Distinctions of gender are but seldom recognized in Maori. Only two are ever noticed, viz., the masculine and feminine. These are always expressed by different words, e. g.

MALE			FEMALE
Matua	}
or		father.	Whaea, mother.
Papa
Tamaiti	}		Tamahine	}
or		son.	or		daughter.
Tamaroa			Kotiro
Tungane, brother of a female.			Tuahine, sister of a man.
Autane, brother-in-law of a female.			Auwahine, sister-in-law of the man.
Tangata, man.			Wahine, woman.
Koroheke, old man.			Ruruhi, old woman.
Tourahi and Toa, male of brute animals.			Uwha, female of brutes.
Tane, a male, mostly of the human species.			Wahine, female.

In salutation, the sex of the person is almost always denoted by the address, e. g.,

To the man.	To the female.
E hoa, friend!	{	Eh kui	}
E pa, ——				to the married woman.
E mara, ——		Eh tai
E koro, ——
E kara, ——	{	E ko	}
E Ta, ——				to the girl.
E Hiko, ——		Eh Hine

Note 1.—It should, however, be noted that these modes of address will vary in different Districts. Thus in Waikato E Tai and E ko are often addressed to the male, and E kui to the girl—again also, tane and wahine will be often found applied to the brute creation, and tourahi, in Waikato, is most frequently applied to the gelding.

Note 2.—The speaker should notice that the relationship of individuals of the same sex is designated by the same terms as the corresponding ones of the opposite sex; e. g.,

John's		Mary's
elder brother,	is Tuakana.	elder sister,	is Tuakana.
younger brother,	teina.	younger sister,	teina.
brother-in-law,	taokete.	sister-in-law,	taokete.

The distinction of sex in the other branches, is generally designated by tane and wahine postfixed to the relation; e. g.,

• hunaonga wahine, daughter-in-law.
• hungawai tane, father-in-law.

Number.—Substantives in Maori have two numbers, singular and plural.