2. (noun) hook grasses, hook sedges, various species of Uncinia - grasslike tufted sedges with short spreading rhizomes. The tips of the seeds are sharply bent back to form a hook.
mātau
1. (verb) (-ria,-hia) to know, acquainted with, understand - usually followed by ki preceding the noun showing the object.
Kāore i pērā rawa te tokomaha o te hunga kaiako he mātau ki te reo Māori, he mātau hoki ki te mahi whakaako (HM 4/2008:1). / There weren't as many teachers who knew the Māori language and also knew how to teach.
Synonyms: mahara, mōhio, hua, matatau, pūrangiaho
2. (modifier) be clever, knowledgeable.
He tangata mātau ki te waihanga pū a Hōri Karaka (TTR 1990:140). / George Clarke was a knowledgeable person at making guns.
Synonyms: matatau
3. (noun) knowledge, understanding.
Anei te reo Pākehā me tōna huhua o te kupu, engari kāore i paku kainamu atu te mātau o te hunga taketake ake nō rātou taua reo ki aua kupu katoa rā (HM 4/2009:3). / Here is the English language with its multitude of words, but native speakers of that language do not know anywhere near all the words of their language.
Synonyms: mōhiotanga, mātauranga, mōhio
mātau
1. (personal noun) we, us, they and I, them and me - eastern dialect variation of mātou.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 13, 31, 32, 52-56, 64-65;)
Nō tō mātau haerenga he wareware anake i a au taku hāmanu ki te wāhi i noho rā mātau. Kotahi māero pea mātau e haere ana, kātahi anō au ka puta mahara ake ki taku hāmanu, heoi ko taku hokinga mai tēnei ki te tiki i taku hāmanu (TPH 15/7/1901:3). / When we set off I forgot my ammunition which was at the place we were camped at. We had travelled approximately one mile when I finally remembered my ammunition and so I returned to get it.
matau
1. (modifier) on the right hand, right.
Ā ka puta mai ki a ia tētahi anahera a te Ariki e tū ana i te taha matau o te āta whakakakara (PT Ruka 1:11). / And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Synonyms: katau
2. (location) the right hand, right-hand side.
Kia matakana tonu ia. Kia kāeaea ia ki mauī, ki matau (TTT 1/10/1925:316). / He will be continually watchful. He will look rapaciously left and right.
nuku matau
1. to move right, indent right.
Synonyms: neke matau
neke matau
1. to indent right (text), move right.
Synonyms: nuku matau
matau a Māui
1. (noun) hook sedge, hook grass, bastard grass, Uncinia uncinata - a grasslike hooked sedge native to Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Society Islands, and Hawai‘i. Its natural habitat is from the coast up to 1000 metres, and is found in areas ranging from native forest to shrubland. Forms dense mounds of orange-red, or green, arching leaves about 50 cm high.
whaka-
1. (particle) to cause something to happen, cause to be - prefixed to adjectives, statives and verbs that do not take a direct object, including reduplicated forms.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 111-112;)
E whakatikatika ana te kaiako i ngā mahi a Hirini. / The teacher is correcting Sydney's work.
2. (particle) Used with a few verbs of perception that take a direct object, i.e. kite, mōhio, rongo, inu, and ako.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 111-112;)
E whakakite ana ia i tana pūtōrino ki ngā whakaminenga. / She is showing her pūtōrino flute to the audience.
3. (particle) When used as a prefix with a stative the word becomes a verb that takes a direct object and takes a passive ending in passive constructions.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 111-112;)
4. (particle) to become a, translate (with names of languages) - prefixed to some nouns to form both verbs that take a direct object and verbs that do not.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 111-112;)
5. (particle) towards, in the direction of - when prefixed to location words, especially mauī, matau, katau, mua, muri, raro, roto, runga and waho, and to nouns, in which case they will be preceded by te. With mauī, matau and katau, te may precede the location word or it may be omitted. With these they are sometimes written as three words separated by hyphens, e.g. whaka-te-moana. These words are normally used only as second, qualifying bases in a phrase.
(Te Kākano Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): 112;)
I Waihī ka huri whakauta te ope taua ka whai i te whārua o Pongakawa (TTR 1900:171). / From Waihī the war party turned inland and proceeded along the Pongakawa river valley.
Huri whakatemauī! / Turn left, please!
I te atapō tonu ka maunu te pā nei, ka haere, ka ahu whaka-Waikato (JPS 1899:180). / Just before dawn they retreated from this pā, departed and headed towards Waikato.
Ka titiro whakatemoana te iwi rā; hoki rawa mai te titiro kua ngaro te wahine nei (M 2004:160). / The people all looked towards the sea, and when their gaze returned this woman had disappeared.
Ka patua ko Tākaha i Ōtāwhao i te taha whakauta o Waipāwa (TTR 1990:347). / Tākaha was killed at Ōtāwhao on the inland side of Waipāwa.
See also whakawaho, whakatekaraka, whakamauī, whakamatau, whakamua, whakamuri, whakararo, whakaroto, whakarunga, whakatehauāuru, whakatekatau, whakatemarangai, whakatemauī, whakatemoana, whakateraki, whaka-tētehi-taha, whakatetonga, whakateuma, whakateuru, whakatonga, whakauta, whakaterāwhiti
6. (particle) In a few words of some other classes whaka- may also be used, e.g. āe, atu, kāhore and kore.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 111-112;)
Kīhai rāua i whakaae kia haere au ki te pakanga i Irāki. / They did not agree that I should go to the war in Iraq.
7. (particle) a particular use of the prefix whaka- with numerals is for fractions, but this use is uncommon in modern Māori. Used this way as a noun or to follow a noun as a modifier (i.e. as an adjective).
Āta wehea te whakatekau o ēnei moni mō ngā mahi a Ihowā, tō tātou Atua, arā, mō Tōna Hāhi, mō te kawe i te Rongo Pai ki ngā Tauiwi, mō te whāngai rawakore, pouaru, tūroro, me ērā atu tini mahi pai, mahi aroha (TP 1/9/1901:5). / Carefully divide off a tenth of this money for the work of Jehovah, our God, that is, for His Church, for conveying the Gospel to the heathens, for feeding the poor, widows, invalids, and for those many good works and deeds of charity.
See also whakatekau