Mai and Atu
mai is best translated to hither and atu is best translated thither
we dont use these words very much in english but they are integral to the tongan language
hither means - to or toward this place
thither means - to or toward that place:
thats the best enlglish concept for mai and atu and it works in most sentences however the best way to think of it is Mai is towards me and atu is away from me
for instance fakatau is to buy
fakatau atu is to sell
a common phrase you hear parents and older siblings say to the younger children is lele mai. Either translation works for it either run here to this place or run towards me.
there are words and phrases that will not sound correct in tongan without using mai or atu because
for instance
tokoni mai or tokoni atu are very common words paired together
if you are talking about helping somebody or getting help then you would always use mai or atu but if you are just talking about help in general you can use tokoni by itself here are some examples
Ha'u ki heni 'o tokoni mai. come here and help
'Oku alu 'a Tevito ke tokoni atu ki he'ene tokoua. David is going to help his brother
'Oku mahuinga ia ke tau tokoni ki etau kainga. It's important that we help our family.
whats interesting is in the second sentence where David is going to help his brother we use ATU but it doesn't really transfer from away from me or to that place. That is why the idea doesn't always work.
I think of a gust of wind if we say mai the wind is coming towards the subject if we say atu the gust of wind is flowing outwards. It doesn't necesarrily have to be directed to a specific person or thing when we say atu and when we say mai it doesn't mean something is coming to us, just in our direction literally or figuratively.
For instance,
'oku tata'o mai 'a e faingata'a kiate au. - translates to "the hardships are bearing down on me" which is obviously figurative language
this is just some thoughts on these important words
if anything I said is erroneous or you have any questions about what I said please leave a comment...
