a1 (< PPN *'a) [personal pronoun and proper name marker] a marker appearing optionally: (1) before sentence initial pronouns and personal names, and (2) after transitive verbs; and occurring obligatorily after the prepositions i and ki. A Sina ni tautali i a Puna, 'Sina followed Puna'.
a2 [preposition, marking 'a' class alienable possession] of, belonging to. te kapu a Sina, 'the cup of Sina'; te tama a Puna, 'the (genetic) child of Puna'. See also: o2.
a laa [nq, preceding noun, plural] other, some other. I te puina, maatou ni nnoho i Muli Akau ia, a laa tama ni nnoho i Hale, 'during the puina, we stayed at the outer islands, the other people stayed on the main island'. See also: laa5.
aa [interrogative pronoun] what?. aa replaces nouns and verbs in interrogative statements. Te aa ku tele?, 'what is running?'; te vaka ku aa?, 'what is the ship doing?' or, 'what is happening about the ship?'; ee aa?, 'what is going on?' or, 'what are you up to?'; a koe ku aa?, 'how are you feeling?' or, 'what are you doing at this specific moment?'; koe e noho ki aa?, 'you are staying for what purpose?'.
aa ko [exclamation, short for heaa ko] what else?, how else?, what is your explanation?. Appears most frequently after an explanation of a situation and the speaker wants the listener to admit the explanation is obvious or forward an alternative explanation.
aha [na] the shell tool used for measuring the spaces between mesh in nets (seu manu, kupena). See also: atumata, kalemata, tia1.
ahaa (< PPN *afaa) [n] a cyclone, a tidal wave.
aaha 1. [vt] to open up, to push apart, as in pushing apart branches in order to look through. 2. [vt] to open up a new settlement or start a new garden. 3. [vt] to start, to begin a new project or way of life. Tapa mai a koe ko hano i mua ki aaha te ala o te taina, 'you called upon me to go first (to school) to open the way for my brother (MS)'. Passive: ahania.
ahali [nf] a fish species, surgeon fish species.
ahana [np] the path in front of the lineage houses (hale henua). Traditionally, no house building or living was allowed in these paths. (PCR)