Vavx.—On the Probable Origin of the Maori Races. 41 
that which is mine attributively—or to possess merely, being indicated by 
the vowel o, while, that which is mine, objectively, or instrumentally, to 
act on or with, takes the stronger vowel «. M. Buschmann considers the 
peculiarity of the Mo, in the Tongan second person Dual and Plural, is also 
due to Western Malay influence ; Mou, in Malay and Javanese, signifying 
you, yours, as Mo does in Tagala. 
I ought to add, that Dr. Maunsell considers some of the Possessive pro- 
nouns in Maori, are declensions of the Personal pronouns, as 
Naku 1 cine. Nau | thine. Nona ) 
Noku ) Nou Nana. } 
and, so, also, Ia, as I a ia, from him, her ; and Moua or Maua, for him or 
her. 
Mr. Williams further thinks, that, with the exception of taku, tau, and 
taua, they have been formed from the genitive cases of the Dual and Plural 
numbers of the Personal pronouns. Thus he considers, to taua kainga—the 
abode of us two—is properly, te hainga o taua, the article te and preposition 
o having coalesced. 
The Possessives in Maori are— 
his or hers, 
cee Sing ai toku. Plur: Aku, ok. 
a matou, to mator. A matou, o matou. 
Tau, tou, to. Au, OU, 0. 
2nd - Ta korua, to korua. { A korua, o korua. 
lr ‘a koutou, to koutou. ly koutou, o koutou. 
Tana, tona. erie ond. 
ot Ta raua, to raua. - 4 raud, o raua, 
(ra ratou, to rato. (4 ratou, 0 ratou. 
Generally, but, not invariably, taku,tau, tana are used, when speaking of 
any thing done by or proceeding from a person, while toku, tou, to, and 
tona apply to something suffered by, or, in the possession of a person. 
Thus, taku kakahu, means, the garment I am making ; toku kakahu, that 
belonging to me, or which I am wearing. 
The resemblances between Maori and the other dialects are, here, well 
marked. Thus, the Rarotongan is ahmost identical with the Maori, while 
the Mangareyan has tahoe, tokoe, and the rest the same. Some, like the 
Tahitian and Samoan, have a contracted as wellasa longer form, as Tahitian, 
tau, tou, nau, nou, au, oe, ete. ; Samoan, leau, loau, lau, lou, aau, oou, au, 
ou, ete. Generally, M. Buschmann’s view holds good, that the genitives of 
the Personal pronouns, formed with the three pair of prepositions, a, 0; na, 
no; ta, to; (in Hawaiian, ka, ko) expresses fairly, the possessive pronouns 
E 
