CHAPTER V.

OF THE NUMERALS.

Numerals in Maori abound in distinctions that are not to be met with in other languages.

Tahi, one, has sometimes a form peculiar to itself, being prefixed by _ko_. All between _tahi_ and _tekau_ may be prefixed by _e_. All the simple numbers, i. e. all less than _ten_, will, when preceding the higher numbers, take their ordinary prefixes; e. g.

E rua, _two_--e rua rau, _two hundred_. Ka toru, _three_--ka toru nga rau, _three hundred, or it is 300_. Kia wha, _let it be four_--kia wha mano, _let it be four thousand &c._ Ka rima _five_,--ka rima mano, _five thousand, &c._ Ka rima tekau, _fifty, &c., &c., &c._

Numbers between ten and twenty are expressed by ten and unit; e. g.

E ono, _six_,--tekau ma ono (_ten and six_) _sixteen_. E whitu, _seven_,--tekau ma whitu, _seventeen_.

Twenty, and all numbers between twenty and a hundred, may be expressed in two ways:

1st, (which is now the more general,) by a _unit_ preceding ten; e. g., e _ono_ tekau, (_six tens_) _sixty_; ka _iwa_ tekau, _ninety_, &c.

2ndly, by _hoko_ prefixed to the _unit_; e. g., hokorua _twenty_.

NOTE.--The Maori mode of counting has always, heretofore, been by pairs: thus _hokorua_, twenty, stands for _twenty pair_, i. e. forty, and so on. When they wish it to be understood singly they postfix _taki-taki_ to the numeral adjective; e. g., hokorua _taki-taki_, _twenty_. Sometimes _topu_, or _pu_, is postfixed to make it more clear that the double of the number is intended; e. g., e waru topu, (_eight doubled_) _sixteen_.

Ngahuru, with Ngapuhi, denotes _ten_, and tekau, _eleven_. In this, the central part of the island, as far as Taupo, ngahuru and tekau represent both of them _ten_.

In expressing a sum of _tens_ and _units_, the smaller number follows ten or its multiple, and is connected with it by the numeral conjunction _ma_; e. g., _thirty-four_ is denoted by "e toru tekau ma wha."

In expressing a sum of _hundreds_, with _tens_ and _units_, the tens are postfixed to the hundreds without a _ma_ intervening; e. g., 136 is expressed by "ko tahi rau, e toru tekau, ma ono."

A sum of _thousands_, _hundreds_, _tens_ and _units_, is expressed in the same way, the particle _ma_ only intervening between the _ten_ and the _unit_; e. g., 1136 is expressed by "ko tahi mano, ko tahi rau, e toru tekau, ma ono."

NOTE.--It should be here noticed that this is the new mode of reckoning brought in by Europeans, and now fast spreading over the land. The old mode is not so convenient in calculation; but it is often heard; 240 would according to it, be thus expressed; Ko tahi rau ma rua, lit. _one hundred and two_. Two, here, stands for (twice ten) twenty doubled.

250 would run thus, ko tahi rau ma rua pu tautahi, _one hundred and two double_, and a tautahi, _an odd one_.

4900 would run thus; e rua mano ma wha, hokorima te tuma; _two thousand, four hundred double, fifty double is the tuma, the excess_.

For all beyond a thousand there is, we suspect, a considerable diversity in the nomenclature of different tribes. In Waikato and Taupo 10,000 double, (i. e., 20,000 according to our reckoning,) would be a _tini_, ten _tini_, (i. e., 100,000 double) would be indifferently called _ngera_, _rea_, _hea_. All beyond that would be denominated by a _tini makehua_, a _tuaururi whaioio_, (_or maioio_) a _tini whakarere_, _&c._

For denoting a number of persons less than _ten_, _toko_ is generally prefixed to the numeral; e. g.,

tokowhitu tatou, _we are seven in number_.

For denoting _distribution_ tātaki is prefixed to the numeral; kia _tātaki_ rua pu nga utu i te tangata, _let each man have four payments_.

NOTE.--Tataki prefixed does not always denote distribution; e. g., Ka tataki-hia nga whakato o ta koutou mara? _How many baskets (are these) that have been sown in your cultivation?_

In measuring length, a fraction is denoted by huka; e. g.,

E ono whatianga, huka to te whitu, _It is six whatiangas[10] long, not quite seven_. E waru maro[10], huka to te iwa, _It is eight maro, not quite nine_.

ORDINALS.--The ordinal numbers are formed:

1. By _tua_ prefixed to the cardinal; e. g., tua toru, _third_, tua iwa, _ninth_.

2. By _whaka_ prefixed; e. g., whakatekau, _tenth_.

3. By the simple cardinal with the definite article, ko _te wha_ tenei _o_ aku haerenga mai, _this is the fourth of my comings here_; i. e., this is the fourth time I have come here.

[10] _Whatianga_ corresponds to the ancient cubit--_maro_ is what a man can measure with his extended arms.