tua-
1. (particle) Prefix used with numbers 1 to 9, aha and hia to form ordinals, i.e. to show something in an ordered arrangement, e.g. tuatahi, first. Such words with tua- may be used as a verb, a modifier, a noun or passively with the passive ending -tia.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 16;)
Ka tuahia koe ki Rānana? Ka tuatoru. / How many times have you been to London? Three times.
Ko te whiti tuatahi o te waiata nei he karakia nā te tohunga (M 2006:4). / The first verse of this song is a ritual chant by a tohunga.
E toru ngā take i haere mai ai ngā iwi nei. Ko te whenua te tuatahi; ko te pounamu te tuarua; ko te Pākehā te tuatoru (JPS 1959:271). / There were three reasons for these tribes coming to us. Land was the first, greenstone was the second, and the Pākehā was the third.
Ā, ka roa e noho ana a Hereure i tōna kāinga, ka puta te whakaaro kia tuaruatia mai anō e tana ope hei whakamātautau anō i a Rongo (JPS 1911:104). / And Hereure stayed a long time at his home; and then he decided to test Rongo with his party a second time.
Tau: I tuaaha rātou i te whakataetae rā? Ira: I tuawhā (HJ 2012:173). / Tau: Where did they place in that competition? Ira: Fourth.
See also tuatahi
2. (particle) Also used with ngahuru (but not tekau) for numbers 10 to 19.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 11;)
I piki a Tāne ki te tuangahuru mā rua o ngā rangi. / Tāne climbed to the twelfth heaven.
See also tuangahuru
