200 
MONOSYLLABIC ROOTS. 
Rite (Maori ) 
recte (Lat.) straight (Eng.) 
Rite 
99 
right (Eng.) 
Ta 
99 
tap, touch (Eng.) 
Tai 
99 
tide (Eng.) 
Taimaha 
99 
m.na (Heb.) pvu (Gr.) mina (Lat.) weight (Eng.) 
Tane 
99 
(Gr.) a man (Eng.) 
Tango 
99 
Tiyu (Gr.) tango (Lat.) to take (Eng.) 
Tara 
99 
(Gr.) to dare (Eng.) 
Tari (or 
tatari) 
99 
tardo (Lat.) tardy, tarry (Eng,) 
Tatu 
99 
(to mark the skin by striking) the tattoo, the striking on a 
Tawiri 
99 
drum, from ta. to strike (Eng.) 
to twist, to wring, as clothes (Eng.) 
Te 
99 
the (Eng.) 
Tika 
99 
A nceaoi A/*» (Gr.) dica (Lat.) just (Eng.) 
Tini 
99 
6 '<* (Gr.) many (Eng.) 
Toa 
99 
tough, strong (Eng.) 
Toru 
99 
■Tgu; (Gr.) tres (Lat.) trois (Fr.) tre (Ital.) tri (Sans.) 
Tu 
9» 
three (Eng.) 
■ruvru (Gr.) tuer (Fr.) to kill, to strike (Eng.) 
Uma 
99 
ov6u.£ (Gr.) uber (Lat ) udder, breast, bosom (Eng.) 
Uinu 
99 
uvo; (Gr.) oven (Eng.) 
Wa,wahanga „ 
veho, vehiculum (Lat.) wahana (Goth.) to carry on the 
W ahine 
99 
shoulders, waggon, wain (Eng.) 
yuvr, (Gr.) woman, or carrying, woman, a mother (Eng.) 
Wai 
Ua rain 
„ 
99 
| (Gr.) mai (Etliiopic), wasser (Goth.) water (Eng.), 
Waka 
99 
fac (Lat.) fhaka (Tonga.) to make or cause (Eng.) 
In New Zealand, we are often surprised to find how easily 
we may be mistaken in words, and fancy some are real Maori, 
when they are only introduced ones. To find out whether 
they are so or not, we must endeavour to discover their roots, 
for there are few words in the language which may not thus be 
traced to a monosyllabic origin. 
For instance, we have one word admitted into our trans¬ 
lation of the Testament which I very much doubt whether 
the translators, though our first Maori scholars, ever sus¬ 
pected was anything but a genuine Maori word, and that is 
toronaihi, a sickle. Wondering what this toronailii could be 
originally, as they had nothing like a sickle, or anything 
sharper than a green-stone adze, or hatchet, I put the question 
to an intelligent native, who laughed and said, “ Why, don’t 
you know what it is, since it is one of your own words ?” I 
