Maori Unpacked, 13, Naming and doing

13
Naming and Doing
Standing back and looking at what has been unpacked...
A naming phrase or a noun phrase starts with te, nga or he.

Te refers to a singular thing.
Te mahi. the work, the activity

Nga refers to more than one thing, to things plural,
Nga mahi, the works, activities
Nga mahi a nga tupuna
The deeds of the ancestors.

He is the indefinite article. It means a or some.
He mahi, a work, a deed, an activity.
He mahi, some works, deeds, activities

In Maori a word can be a noun or a verb, a naming word or a doing word, depending on what comes before it.

Ka mahi au i te mahi, I do the work.

Ka mahi is a verbal phrase introduced by ka

Te mahi is a nominal phrase introduced by te.

There is even a way to make a naming word that involves some doing,
Say we wanted to talk about the doing or the making.
We could use the word mahinga.
This is a gerund, we will have you know! Its a bit of a verb and a bit of a noun, a verbal noun you might say.
Mahi- work plus -nga, an ending for the gerund. The gerund always ends in nga, sometimes on its own and sometimes with more before the nga as with -tanga, -ranga, -hanga or -manga.
Sometimes the gerund is an -ing word like mahinga.
Sometimes it is a -ness word
pouri, sad
pouritanga, sadness

Is that enough mahi for the moment?

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