Location words in a topsy-turvy world

The word kei has several different uses in te reo Ma¯ ori. As a base word, for instance, it is a noun: ‘‘stern’’ of a canoe. As a particle it’s functions are manifold – but it may be sufficient, initially at least, to consider its use as a particle as two quite distinct words.

One of these is a verb particle, which directly precedes a verb base word and expresses a sense of ‘‘warning’’ or ‘‘caution’’ (it’s sometimes called ‘‘precautionary’’): Kia tu¯ pato / kei hinga / koe. (‘‘Be careful lest you fall.’’ or ‘‘Be careful you don’t fall.’’ The other, very common use, is as a preposition, with several different functions but often translated as ‘‘at’’ in the present tense: kei te whare = ‘‘(now) at the house’’.

Here it is one of four ‘‘location prepositions’’. Two others are i (‘‘at’’ in the past): i te whare = ‘‘was or were at the house’’, and hei (‘‘at’’ in the future): hei te whare = ‘‘will be at the house’’. The fourth location preposition is ki (‘‘to’’ or ‘‘towards’’ a given location in space or time): ki te whare = ‘‘to the house’’. In all the phrases just quoted the ‘‘headword’’ is a common noun, whare (‘‘house’’) and in such phrases some word comes between the preposition and the noun (te in the above examples) but with any ‘‘location noun’’ there is no intervening word: kei Oamaru (‘‘at Oamaru’’); kei runga / i te te¯ pu (‘‘at topside / of the table’’ = ‘‘on the table’’). Location nouns form a specific class of base words. This class includes all place-names and also a relatively small group of words referring to location in space or time.

The word runga (‘‘the topside’’) is a typical example of this type of word, a type which has no exact parallel in English. The word raro (‘‘the underside’’) is another such word.

Interestingly, runga also denotes ‘‘south’’, and raro ‘‘north’’.

Ma¯ te wa¯ (‘‘until next time’’) may all readers keep safe and well in a world turned ‘‘upside-down’’.