Title: First Lessons in Maori

Author: W. L. Williams

Publication details: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1930, Wellington

Part of: New Zealand Texts Collection

This text is the subject of: Victoria University of Wellington Library Catalogue

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

§ 4.

The nouns have no Inflections, nor any distinctions of Gender.

Obs. The interrogative pronoun aha, what, is treated as a common noun.

The Number of a common noun is denoted generally by the number of the definitive in connexion with it. (§§ 17, 18.) The following words have one vowel lengthened in the plural, thus:

Singular.	Plural.
Mătua, parent.	Mātua, parents.
Tŭpuna, ancestor.	Tūpuna, ancestors.
Tăngata, man.	Tāngata, men.
Wăhine, woman.	Wāhine, women.
Tuăhine, sister (of a man).	Tuāhine, sisters.
Tuăkana, elder brother.	Tuākana, elder brothers.
Těina, younger brother.	Tēina, younger brothers.
Tamăhine, daughter.	Tamāhine, daughters.

page 8

The word tamaiti, child, is used in the singular only, tamariki being always used for the plural.