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 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