tēnei

Maori

Etymology

Analyzable as te (definite article) + nei (determiner, “here” or “this”, close to the speaker).

Determiner

tēnei

1. this (referring to something near to the speaker)

Coordinate terms

• tēnā (“that”, proximal, closer to the listener)
• tērā (“that”, distal, far from both speaker and listener)

Tokelauan

Etymology

From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *te-nei. Cognates include Maori tēnei and Samoan lenei.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [teː.ˈne.i]
• Hyphenation: tē‧ne‧i

Pronoun

tēnei

1. this (near the speaker)

Determiner

tēnei

1. this (near the speaker)
   • 1948, Tūlāfono fakavae a Tokelau [Constitution of Tokelau]‎^[1], page 1:

     Ko te fakavae tenei e matea i nā nuku ma kafai ona tagata e faifaimea fakatahi, ma nonofo fakatahi i te filemu ma te fiafia.

     This foundation is recognised in the villages and if its people repeatedly do things together, and [if] they live together in peace and happiness.

See also

Tokelauan demonstratives

	singular	plural
Simple	tē	iē
Proximal	tēnei, nei	iēnei, nei
Medial	tēnā	iēnā
Distal	tēia	iēia

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[2], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 382