Relatives in Tahitian

In this lesson, we will learn how to build relatives in Tahitian. They are built using which, that, whose, whom.

What are relatives ?

In this first part, starting from the basics, what is a relative ?

The relative consists in:

• a nominal group: article + noun + (adjective)
• a relative pronoun: the main ones are: which, that, whose, whom. Does it remind you of any memories ? Me, yes of course.
• a proposition : subject + verb + complement

Let’s illustrate with an example:

Example	Grammatical construction
The green book	a nominal group
that	a relative pronoun
you lent me	a proposition

Relatives in Tahitian

In this second part, let’s draw a parallel with Tahitian.

Here are the rules for the construction of the relative clause in Tahitian:

Function	Detail	Grammatical construction
The relative proposition	Action accomplished	TE + NOUN + I + VERB
	Action in progress in the nei	TE + NOUN + E + VERB + NEI
	Action in progress in the ra	TE + NOUN + E + VERB + RA
	No indication of the degree of accomplishment of the action	TE + NOUN + E + VERB

Indeed, as in English, in the proposition SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT, we will encounter the same construction in Tahitian.

Thus, the construction of the relative proposition integrates the conjugation of the verb in English as in Tahitian, hence the use of nei, ra, e.

Small reminder: Conjugate in Tahitian

The examples

Let’s illustrate with examples, this time in Tahitian:

English	Detail	Tahitian
This person who greeted you	Action accomplished	Teie taata i aroha ia ‘oe
This woman who is singing	Action in progress in the nei	Teie vahine e hīmene nei
That girl you loved	Action in progress in the ra	Teie tamahine e here ra ‘oe
The boat leaving tomorrow	No indication of the degree of accomplishment of the action	Te pahī e reva a nanahi

The already known vocabulary

Here is the vocabulary we already know which appears in green:

• ‘oe: Introduce yourself in Tahitian – I, you, he – Vau, au – Who
• the particle ia: Particle I in Tahitian – Location, time, object, achievement – Ia

Tahitian	English
Teie taata	That person
Teie vahine	This woman
Teie tamahine	This girl (the same word is used to mean the girl of a person, or the girl who is the contrary of boy)
Te pahī	The boat
Here	To love
Reva	To leave
A nanahi	Tomorrow

We have learned:

• Here, reva : First 30 verbs in Tahitian
• A nanahi : Moments of the day in Tahitian – Morning, afternoon, night

The new vocabulary

Here are the new verbs:

Tahitian	English
Aroha	To have compassion, to have pity, to greet, to say hello, pity, compassion, love (in the religious sense), greetings
Hīmene	Singing, sing (from English, hymn)

The translation

Let’s go back to our example in English from the first part, let’s learn to say it in Tahitian:

English	Tahitian
The green book that you lent me	Te puta mātie i hōro’a tārahu ‘oe ia’u

The already known vocabulary

Here is the vocabulary we already know which appears in green:

• ‘oe and’ u: Introduce yourself in Tahitian – I, you, he – Vau, au – Who
• the particle ia: Particle I in Tahitian – Location, time, object, achievement – Ia

English	Tahitian
The book	Te puta
Green (the color)	Mātie

We have learned:

• Green : Colors in Tahitian

The new vocabulary

Here are the new verbs, we know Hōro’a, learn derivatives:

• mai, atu: Where are you from in Tahitian – Where are you going – Mai, atu

Tahitian	English
Hōro’a	To give, to hand over, to transmit, donation
Hōro’a mai	To give me
Hōro’a atu	To give him
Hōro’a tārahu	To lend
Tārahu	To borrow money, to rent, credit, loan

And the rest?

With this lesson, we have just learned to construct relatives in Tahitian. And also, we learned 15 vocabulary words and expressions.