class="tdl">Ng

ng nga singing O o o obey, without the w sound generally connected with it in English. P p pa R r ra T t ta U u u boot W w wa Wh wh wha

§ 2. Pronunciation. Those letters which have not the pronunciation marked in the above table may be pronounced as in English: t and r, however are articulated farther forward in the mouth in Maori than they are in English; and wh is not, as it is written, a letter compounded of w and h, but a simple consonant, the effect of breath emitted smartly between the lips; the same sound, in short, as is made in blowing from the mouth.

Ng, as used in Maori to begin a syllable, is found difficult by some people; but the difficulty may soon be overcome by bearing in mind that the position of the organs of speech is the same for this letter as for g and k, to which it stands in the same relation that m does to b and p, and n to d and t. Pronounce the three letters successively with the Maori vowel a, thus; ka, ga, nga, and practise this till the letter is mastered.

The vowels have each but one sound, though they may all vary in length in different words. When two stand together in a word, the first of the two is generally pronounced more strongly than the other. The doubling of a vowel amounts simply to a lengthening of it.

The consonants always stand singly, and every syllable ends with a vowel.

§ 3. Caution. Be careful always to give each vowel its own sound, and so to avoid confusion between ae and ai, as in the words waewae and wai; between ao and au, as in the words tao and tau; between ou and u, as in the words koutou and mutu.

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II. NOUNS AND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

§ 4. The nouns have no inflexions, nor any distinctions of gender to affect grammatical construction.

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

§ 5. Number. The number of a common noun is denoted

1. by a lengthened pronunciation of certain words for the plural, as in the following:

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

2. by the number of the definitive in connexion with the noun. See §§ 14, 15.

§ 6. Nominal prefix a. Use the nominal prefix a with names of persons

1. when they stand as subject in a sentence;

2. when they follow any of the prepositions ki, i, hei, or kei.

Use it with personal pronouns (except ahau) only when they follow the prepositions ki, i, hei, or kei; or when they are repeated by way of explanation: not ordinarily when they stand as subject in a sentence.

Use it with names of places and nouns of locality (§ 10) only when they stand as subject in a sentence, or are repeated by way of explanation.

§ 7. Ma. When any person is spoken of in connexion with others whom it is not necessary to specify put ma after the name, thus:

Also when addressing more persons than one it may be used with the different forms of address, thus:

With the pronouns Wai? and mea it makes a kind of plural.

§ 8. Personal Pronouns. The personal pronouns have three numbers, Singular, Dual, and Plural, as shewn by the following table.

TABLE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.