CHAPTER XIV.

SYNTAX OF THE ARTICLE.

1. _Ko_ is never used before appellatives without either _te_, _te tahi_, and its plural _e tahi_, or one of the possessive pronouns intervening, and it is almost always found to occupy the first place in the sentence; e. g.,

_ko_ taku tamaiti, _this is my child_. _ko_ e tahi kua kitea, _some were seen_.

2. In this position a very common use of it is, to imply the verb substantive.

3. The article _he_, it will be seen, does not require its help for such a purpose; e. g., _he_ rakau tenei, _this is a tree_; _he_ mate toku, _a sickness is mine_, i. e., I am sick.

4. All the functions of _a_ (vid. page 13) are performed by _ko_, when the noun, &c., to which it is prefixed, precede in the sentence; e. g.,

_Ko_ koe te haere, _you are the person that is to go_. _Ko_ runga kau i kainga, _the tops only were eaten_.

5. Sometimes it will be found in other parts of the sentence, (_a_) when the terms, of which the sentence is composed, are convertible,[33] or are intended, at least, to be represented as similar; e. g., _ko_ te timunga atu o konei _ko_ te pakeketanga o waho, _the ebbing of the tide from here is low water outside_.

Me he mea _ko_ Pahuru _ko_ Ngakete, _if Pahuru had been Ngakete_, &c. _Ko_ au ra _ko_ ia, _I and he are (one.)_

(_b_) Sometimes, also, when there are two subjects of which the same thing is affirmed, _ko_ will be prefixed to both; e. g.,

_Ko_ Kukutai _ko_ te Wherowhero, rite tahi raua, _Kukutai and Wherowhero, they are equal both of them_.

6. It will be seen in the above example that _ko_ will sometimes represent _and_; e. g., e takoto nei _ko_ te pihi _ko_ te poro, _it lies here, both the piece, and the end (of the bar of soap.)_

7. Very frequently, also, _ko_ may be denominated "the article of specification and emphasis;" e. g., _Noku_ tena paraikete, _that blanket is mine_; _ko_ taku paraikete tena, _that is my blanket_. The former of these two sentences implies that the blanket is his property; the latter denotes the same thing, with some further specification; as being, for example, one that had been previously _described_, _worn_, &c.

Again, _ko_ Hone i haere, _John went_.

I haere _a_ Hone, _idem_.

Here also, there is, we think, a difference. The latter sentence merely says that John went; the former that John, as _contradistinguished_ from some one else, was the person who went; literally, _it was John (who) went_.

8. Sometimes also, in animated description, _ko_ will follow the verb; e. g., na ka hinga _ko_ Haupokia, na ka hinga _ko_ Ngapaka, _then fell Haupokia, then fell Ngapaka_.

9. _Ko_ will generally be prefixed to the subject,[34] e. g., _ko_ ta te tangata kai _he_ poaka, _he_ riwai, _he_ aha, _he_ aha, _the food for man is pork, potatoes, et cætera, et cætera_; _ko_ Oropi _te_ whenua taonga, _Europe is the land of property_.

N.B.--There are some exceptions to this rule, especially when tenei, &c., are employed. (vid. etiam rule 5.)

10. _Ko_ is always prefixed to every title or name of men or things which stands alone without the verb; e. g.,

"_Ko_ te karere o Nui Tireni," _the (Newspaper) the Karere o Nui Tireni_. _Ko_ Hone, _here is John, or, John_.

NOTE.--Occasionally we meet with an exception to this rule, in emphatic, elliptical, and complementary clauses; e. g., in taunting; tou ngene, _your ngene_[35]; taku tirohanga, _my looking_, i. e., _when I looked_. Ka whati tera, te pa, _that was discomfitted, the pa_. Vid. our illustrations of _Epanorthosis_ in _preliminary remarks_, page 104.

11. It is sometimes used in elliptical sentences like the following: E pai ana ano; _ko_ te maeke ra, _we are willing; but the cold_, i. e., _we should be glad to go only for the cold_; Haere ana ia, _ko_ tona ko tahi, _he went by himself alone_.

NOTE.--It may be seen in the above example that ko is sometimes used for _but_; so also in the following: Me he mea ko te Paki, e rongo ratou; _ko tenei_ e kore e rongo, _if it had been Paki they would have listened_, but _as for this, they will not listen_.

12. In connexion with the two preceding rules, we may observe, that ko is almost always prefixed to the nominative absolute; e. g., _ko taua kupu au_, e kore e rangona, _as for that word of yours, it will not be listened to_.

_Ko te hunga whakapono_, ka ora ratou, _believers, they will be saved_.

N.B.--In some districts the ko is omitted under this rule.

13. _Nga_ we have designated as the plural of the _definite_ article page 12. The student will therefore remember that it does not recognize the rules _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, mentioned under _te_--pages 10 and 11.

14. _The omission of the article._

There are some cases in which no article is prefixed to the noun, (_a_) when the noun follows immediately after the verb; e. g., Whakamate tangata, _murderous_; (vid. compound words page 17.) Haere po, _go by night_.

(_b_) Nouns preceded by the adverbial particles _a_ and _tua_; e. g., tatau _a tangata_, _count man by man_.

(_c_) When a possessive pronoun is associated with the noun; ho mai toku kakahu, _give me my garment_.

NOTE.--It is, however, highly probable that the singular possessive pronouns, (vid. page 29.) are compounded of the article _te_, and the plural form _oku_, &c., and that _oku_, _aku_, _ona_, &c., are compounded of _o_ and _a_, and the personal pronouns _ahau_, _koe_, _ia_: these pronouns assuming the forms of _oku_, _ou_, _ona_, &c., when in connection with _o_, and _a_; in the same way as they adopt the form of _mona_, _nona_, &c., when in combination with the prepositions _mo_, _no_, &c., &c. (vid. our remarks on noku and maku page 22, and _tenei_, &c., page 31.) Sometimes, indeed, we find the singular possessive pronouns thus resolved; e. g., kei _tenei_ taha _oku_, on this side _of me_. If it had not been for _nei_ the speaker would have said _to_ku taha. The _nei_ however attracts the _te_, and thus resolves _toku_ into its component parts.

15. _He_ differs in its uses from _te tahi_ and _e tahi_.

(_a_) _He_, of itself, often implies the verb substantive. (Vid. rule 3).

(_b_) _He_ is very seldom found after a preposition. It is almost always found in the nominative case after the substantive verb; e. g., he tangata tenei; he kino kau koutou.

Thus it would not be correct to say, I kainga, e _he_ kuri, it was eaten by a dog; hei tiki i _he_ rakau, _to fetch a stick_. It should be e _te_ kuri, i _te tahi_ rakau.

NOTE.--_He_ is sometimes found after _ma_ and _na_, e. g., nana i homai _he_ paraikete i mahana ai au. We believe, however, that this exception to rule (_b_) is only apparent, and that _he waka_, here, is the nominative case. (Vid. _Verbs_.)

16. _A._ A strange use of _a_ is sometimes met with in Waikato. When two nouns follow each other in apposition, _a_ is sometimes prefixed to the latter; e. g., Ka noho atu tera i te kai mana _a_ te kahawai, _he indeed will remain away from the food for him!--the kahawai!_

E hoe ana ki Akarana, ki te kai mana _a_ te paraoa, _he is paddling to Auckland for food for himself--flour_.

Sometimes it occurs in sentences like the following, Na wai tenei haere _a_ te po? _Whose going is this_, (I mean,) _in the night?_ i. e., _who ever goes by night?_

(_b_) A personal pronoun following the verb in the nominative will very seldom take _a_ before it; e. g., Whakangaromia iho _ratou_. It would not be correct to say _a_ ratou.

To this rule there are a few exceptions, e. g., tu ana ratou, _a_ ia tangata _a_ ia tangata, _they stood each man_.

(_c_) Proper names are not subject to the above rule; e. g., it would not be correct to say, Whakangaromia iho _Ngatipaoa_. It should be _a_ Ngatipaoa.

(_d_) When a question is asked in reference to a preceding remark, _a_ will precede the pronoun, e. g., E ki na koe. _A_ wai? A koe ra, _You assert--who? You, forsooth_.

17. The articles, definite and indefinite, are always repeated in Maori, as in French, before every substantive in the sentence; e. g., Ko _te_ whakapono _te_ take o _te_ aroha, raua ko _te_ pai, _faith is the root of love, and good works_.

18. Adjectives used substantively require the article; e. g., _He_ tika rawa _te_ he ki a ia, _the wrong is perfectly right in his opinion_.

19. Frequently, also, the article is prefixed to what would be a participle in English; e. g., Kei _te noho_, _he is at the sitting_, i. e., _he is sitting_; ka tata _te maoa_, _the being cooked is near_.

NOTE.--It is, however, probable that all such words as noho, &c., should, in constructions like the above, be regarded as substantives. We shall have to treat on this hereafter. (Vid. _Verbs_.)

NOTE 2.--Further remarks on the articles we shall reserve to the next chapter.

[33] Convertible terms, we need not remind the learned reader, are those, the meaning of which is so similar, that they may be substituted one for the other.

[34] The learned student will here see that Maori has, in this respect, the advantage over Hebrew; confusion often occurring in that language from the want of some means for determining which is the subject and which the predicate.

[35] Ngene is a scrofulous tumour.