1864 Newspaper Article - A Murder - Grammar Breakdown
19 November 2025

1864 Newspaper Article - A Murder - Grammar Breakdown

A Maori Podcast

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Kia ora tatou! I have a Patreon now. I am trying to release a few extra stuff more frequently. Check it out here:

https://patreon.com/amaoripodcast


I did an English interpretation which you can read here.


Below is a selection of phrases I liked from the Maori Newspaper read in the previous episode. You can check it out here:

I didn't do a reading of part 2, but if you want to read it you can find it here:


whakatauki: 'Ae, nga ra o toru whitu.' The Raupo Book of Maori Proverbs, Te Kohikohinga whakatauki a Raupo. pg. 155.


me te waipiro nei ano te kaha. - ano: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/231, https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/45397


He mea noa iho te mahinga. - noa iho: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/4430


kia to te ra. - kia: see Harlow, A Maori Reference Grammar. pg 216 for examples.


ka pokapoka haere i te tangai. - haere: 'Following other verbs, haere implies that the activity is carried out as one goes around.' Harlow, A Maori Reference Grammar. pg 41-42.


katahi ka whakairia te tahaa ki raro iho i te pokanga hei heketanga mo te wai rakau ki roto.

hei: 'indicating purpose and/or intention' H.W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language, pg.44

mo: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/4117

heketanga: 'nominalisation...in other cases, the noun derived in this way designates the result of the action of the verb: panuitanga - announcement, the thing which comes about through someone's action of announcing...'Harlow, A Maori Reference Grammar. pg 116.


ko te pokanga, ko te taha; ko te pokanga, ko te taha -- i tena rakau, i tena rakau.

tena: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/7913


ki te mea ka inu i te heketanga mai ano i te rakau e reka noa iho ana; tena ki te waiho kia po toru e tu ana i roto i te ipu kia toroi i te ra, katahi ka rite tonu ki te waipiro.

ki te mea: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/2728

po toru: 'Po whitu ki te moana ka whiti ki Hawaiki. - We'll be at sea for 7 nights until we reach Hawaiki.' A Dictionary of the Maori Language, pg 285, H.W. Williams


kotahi te tangata. - https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/340


kihai i takitaro e ngaro ana ka puta mai tetahi tangata ki te whare. - kihai i takitaro: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/2614


Mea ana taua tangata kia moe ia i reira i taua po.

kia: to indicated purpose/intention - 3rd example, He Pataka Kupu.


he koa anake te wahine o te whare ki nga hanga o te tangata ra.

anake: entirely completely without exeception. The Maori Comparative Dictionary. E. Treagar, pg 11


katahi ka urungatia e te tangata ra te takai o ana hanga hei urunga mona, a ka moe.

urunga - https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/8919

takai - https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/7210