Riptide wrote:Well, to translate the sentence, it roughly translates to "I saw you", where I is the subject of the sentence and you is the object. If you omit the "a" in i kite au i a ia, that would make the you a second subject which is wrong. So basically, the "a" makes the subject pronoun an object pronoun in this case. Here's a good description of how the "a" particle is used in the language: http://kupu.maori.nz/Show.aspx?page=33. Anyways, hope this helps.
kahihi'o wrote:The particular E referred to in the phrase "E Ihowa" is the vocative particle that precedes the name of the person that you are calling to.
Nooj wrote:kahihi'o wrote:The particular E referred to in the phrase "E Ihowa" is the vocative particle that precedes the name of the person that you are calling to.
But I thought that e was only used with names of two syllables.
Nooj wrote:Thanks for that. I guess it'd be too much to hope to get a proper translation in the national freaking anthem.
I left New Zealand before they really started giving the options for teaching Maori at school. I'm hoping to come back and actually learn Maori sometime. But right now I'm only picking things up from the internet.
Lowena wrote:I've noticed that (...) /t/ sounds somewhat like /tʃ/, or maybe /ts̺/ which is like Basque's <ts>. Are these accurate, or is this another case of me hearing sounds differently when they really aren't?
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