Maori

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Maori cardinal numbers
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    Cardinal : tekau

Etymology

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From Proto-Polynesian *te-kau (compare with Hawaiian kaʻau (forty), Tahitian taʻau (twenty) and Tongan tekau)[1][2] from Proto-Polynesian *kau₂ (group)[1] (see Hawaiian ʻau, Tahitian ʻau, Samoan ʻau (group, bunch, shoal, school) and Tongan kau (bunch)).[3]

Numeral

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tekau

  1. ten
    Synonym: ngahuru
  2. (archaic) twenty
    Synonym: (modern) rua tekau

Derived terms

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “te-kau”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
  2. ^ Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary[1], Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, pages 503-4
  3. ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “kau.2b”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online

Further reading

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  • tekau” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.