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There’s much to be learned from simple sentences

David Kārena-Holmes

For an English-speaking person wishing to understand something of the constructions in te reo even the most common of sentences may be found to embody several features of the differences between the two languages.

Take, for instance, the simple question: Ko wai / to¯ ingoa? The usual translation for this would be ‘‘What is your name?’’

But there is no word in Māori equating to English ‘‘is’’, just as there is no word in English equating to the Māori Ko. And, although it’s a rule of English that a sentence, to be complete, must contain a main verb, this doesn’t apply to te reo.

The question Ko wai / to¯ ingoa? is a complete sentence; as also is: Ko Mere / taku ingoa. (‘‘Mary / my name’’).

Here, the ‘‘focus preposition’’ ko serves as a pointer or indicator. Ko Mere / taku ingoa makes a clear statement without any need of a verb. The various situations in which ko may appear is something to be learnt through much practice.

Next, what about the word wai? There is a common noun wai, meaning ‘‘water’’ (often found in place names, probably because water is such an important geographical feature) but the discussion here concerns the personal pronoun wai?

Wherever this word occurs a question is being asked.

The word wai? is therefore sometimes called an ‘‘interrogative’’ personal pronoun.

Ko wai / e¯ra¯ wa¯hine? (‘‘Who are those women?’’) Here the translation of wai? is ‘‘who?’’

In translating Ko wai / to¯ ingoa? however, the meaning of wai? is given as ‘‘what?’’ It has sometimes been said that in te reo the question isn’t ‘‘What is your name?’’ but ‘‘Who is your name?’’

But this is quite wrong – and amounts to a confused disservice to te reo.

The word wai? has its own functions in te reo, not to be bound by any particular translation conventions. It is simply a word used in asking questions about people. The fact that in some contexts an appropriate translation may be ‘‘who?’’ while in others it may be ‘‘what?’’ illustrates conventions of English as much as those of te reo.

Also, since no distinction between subject and object is made with Māori pronouns, the appropriate translation of wai? may, in some contexts, be ‘‘whom?’’: I hoatu / e koe / te ra¯kau ma¯ / ki a wai? (‘‘To whom did you give the white stick?’’)

All this – and we haven’t even begun to explore the second phrase of Ko wai / to¯ ingoa?

David Ka¯rena-Holmes is a New Zealand-born writer currently living in Nelson. A tutor of grammar since the 1980s, his third book on the subject is Te Reo Ma¯ori – the Basics Explained (Oratia Books, 2020). He is examining te reo grammar in a series of fortnightly articles.

Opinion

en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281741272690614

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