HoNGi. — Maori Nutneration . 



63 a 



Wha tekau topu . . . . . . . . Twice 



Rima tekau topu 

 Ouo tekau topu 

 Whitu tekau topu 

 Waru tekau topu 

 Iwa tekau topu 

 Kotahi rau topu 

 Rua rau topu 

 Toru rau topu 

 A^'ha rau topu 

 Rima rau topu 

 Kotahi mano topu 



(Higher numbers as required. When absolute exactness is required, an 

 odd one is referred to as tai-tahi or tau-tahi.) 



Strictly of persons : — 



Hoko-tahi topu 

 Hoko-rua topu 

 Hoko-toru topu 

 Hoko-wha topu 

 Hoko-rima topu 

 Hoko-ono topu 

 Hoko-whitu topu 

 Hoko-waru topu 

 Hoko-iwa topu 

 He rua rau tangata tonu 

 He rua rau me te hoko-tahi 

 He rua rau me te hoko-rua 



Ten ones doubled = 20 



Ten twos doubled 40 



Ten threes doubled 60 



Ten fours doubled 80 



Ten fives doubled 100 



Ten sixes doubled 120 



Ten sevens doubled 140 



Ten eights doubled 160 



Ten nines doubled 180 

 A number of two hundred men 200 



Two hundred and one ten 210 



Two hundred and two tens 220 



So the process may be continued to any known number. Quoting 

 Maunsell's " Maori Grammar," Mr. Best notes, " The Maori mode of 

 counting has always heretofore been by pairs : thus hoko-rua, twenty, 

 stands for twenty pair — i.e., forty — and so on. When they wish it to be 

 understood singly they postfix takitaM to the numeral adjective — i.e., hoko- 

 rua takitaki = twenty." The extraordinary statement that the Maori mode 

 of counting has '' always heretofore been by pairs " is absolutely beneath 

 notice. Of a dozen or so distinct modes, one only is by means of doubhng, 

 and this mode Mr. Maunsell miscalls " by pairs." A counting by pairs is 

 described as a tatau-a-takirua — literally, a counting two by two. The term 

 topu, or pu, has no use in that connection, but is used for lots, bundles, 

 parcels, and so forth, without reference to the number which each might 

 contain. As to hokorua takitahi, such a phrase is proper in a case of mis- 

 understanding. A speaker may be asked, " Are you speaking of twenty 

 doubled {hoko-rua pu) ? " and he may answer, " Oh, no ; I am speaking of 

 twenty singly {hoko-rua taki-tahi)." Beyond this the phrase has no pecu- 

 liar significance. 



Taki is a numeral prefix, and as such answers the question, " How were 

 the numbers made up ? " — 



Taki-tahi 



Taki-rua 



Taki-toiu 



Taki-wha 



Taki-rima 



Taki-ono 



Taki-whitu 



We now reach the final vowel of our series, which is u. As we have 

 seen, it occurs in the suffix pu. It also occurs in the ordinal prefix tua. 



