Mei 5-9 Flashcards
(17 cards)
In most contexts, things such as food, beverages (other than water), actions and utterances, equipment and man-made machines and objects (but not clothing), moveable property, animals and pets (other than the horse, which was regarded as transport) and people of a lower generation or in an inferior or somehow ‘lesser’ position (for example, a worker in relation to their boss, a student in relation to their teacher, a patient in relation to their doctor) all take ‘a’.
Ko Tongi te ingoa o te kurī ‘a’ Hira
‘a’
The name of Hira’s dog is Tongi.
‘Nā” wai te kurī rō? ‘Nā’ Hira?
Who does that dog belong to? Whose dog is that? To Hira? / (Is it Hira’s?)
Ka nui te aroha o Hira ki tāna kurī.
Hira really loves his dog.
Nā wai i hoko taua kurī mā Hira?
Who bought that dog for Hira?
Now let’s look at the flipside – what things take ‘o’. Where the possessor is dominated by, under the control of, protected or nurtured by, or somehow in a less powerful position than the thing being talked about, o is used in showing that possession.
Some of the prominent things in the ‘o’ category are land and landmarks (such as maunga and awa) whakapapa and traditional groupings of people (for example, hapū and iwi), people from a higher generation or the same generation, people in a superior position, friends, homes, houses and other forms of shelter, forms of transport (including the horse), water (according to most authorities, whether it be for drinking or cleansing), clothing, personal adornments, emotions and thoughts, hopes and desires, parts of the body, attributes (of humans and other things), and parts of any greater whole.
Nō Hira te whare rā.
‘O’
That house belongs to Hira.
He rawe te whare o Hira.
Hira’s house is choice
Kei te peita a Hira i tōna whare.
Hira is painting her house.
Te ngākau o Tūrongo.
The heart of Tūrongo / Tūrongos heart (intrinsic part of a human, part of a greater whole = o)
Te pai me te ātaahua o tētehi puhi.
The goodness and beauty of a certain maiden (human attributes = o)
Ōna painga
His virtues / good points (human attributes = o)
Ōna kākahu
Ōna makawe
Tōna kiri
Tōna whare moe
Her clothes
Her hair
Her skin
His sleeping quaters (building, shelter = o)
Most actions are considered a, for example ‘te mahi a Tūrongo’ – ‘the work of Tūrongo’, ‘te tope a Rata i te rākau’ – ‘Rata’s felling of the tree’, ‘te kauhoe a Hinemoa’ – ‘the swim/swimming of Hinemoa’. Although hoki is a verb, and indeed an action, meaning to return, when it has the nominalising suffix -nga added, changing the meaning slightly to ‘the return of’ or ‘the returning of’, it is often treated as an ‘o’ category item.
Another sub-category not yet described relates to spouses, partners, lovers, friends and enemies! It might seem odd to lump these all in together, but there is a bit of a thread running through them. Firstly, hoa meaning friend, and any compound word that begins with hoa, is of the o category. For example:
Hoa
Hoa aroha
Hoa rangatira
Hoa tāne
Hoa wahine
Hoariri, hoa ngangare.
Hoamahi
Friend
Dear friend
Spouse or partner
Husband, male spouse
Wife, female spouse
Enemy, adversary
Colleague
I uaua ki a ia ngā mahi o te whare wananga.
He found the work of/at university difficult.
Te tikanga mā te wahine, mā te tāne, mā ngā tamariki katoa e kawe ngā mahi o te kāinga.
The husband, the wife and the kids should all contribute to the home chores.
Ko te kai a te pūngāwerewere, he ngārara
The food of spiders is insects.
He penupenu te kai pai mā pēpē.
Mashed food is the best food for baby.
