EXAMPLES.
- He aha tena mea? what (insect, animal, or thing) is that?
- Ko Hone aha? which John was it?—(was it John the Baptist, or John the Apostle?)
- He aha a Erihapeti ki a Hone? what (relation) is Elizabeth to John?
- Na te aha? from what cause? (why?)
- Pehea ana to whakaaro? what is your thought? i. e., what do you think?
- E taea te pehea? what can be done? how can it be helped?
- He kai pehea tena kai? what kind of food is that?
Note.—The above sentence decides the right of pehea to be considered a pronoun. Most of the compounds however of hea; such as, kohea, pehea, nohea, ihea, mohea, &c., ought most probably to be considered as belonging to the class of adverbs.
The student will find, as we proceed, that the lines of distinction between the various classes of pronoun, adverb, preposition, noun, verb and adjective, are frequently but faintly marked, and that the same word may be often noticed as standing in four or five different ranks.
Tehea, and its plural ehea, is applied to which of a number, and is used to denote persons, or things; e. g.,
- Ko tehea tau e pai ai? which do you choose?
- Ko ehea tangata au e ki nei, which men do you speak of?
Note.—Pronouns are sometimes employed to denote the time of the sentence, as will be seen hereafter. (vid. verbs.)
THE DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS.
Each and every one, are expressed by the demonstrative or possessive pronoun, and the noun twice or thrice repeated; e. g.,
- Haria mai e tera tangata, e tera tangata, tana kono riwai, bring each man his basket of potatoes.
- Ia tangata ia tangata, each man.
- I tenei ra i tenei ra, each day.
- E warea ana ki tana mahi ki tana mahi, each is engaged with his own particular business.