Kiwi Words of the Week

Cautionary note: Since I can't be "on" all the time and because I believe this topic deserves reverence, I will attempt to be serious. That means no dumb puns, or, God help me, Boosh references. Here it goes:

Molly requested I write about The Maori. I hardly feel qualified to do this, but I would certainly be misrepresenting Kiwi slang by ignoring the huge impact the Maori language has on New Zealand English. Like so many cultures affected by British colonialization, the Maori find their own language disapearing. Something like nine percent of Maori adults can actually speak Maori conversationally. The national government has taken measures too, using Maori terms in government documents and printing public service announcements in English and Maori. Since Maori is an official language of New Zealand, university students are allowed to submmit assignments in Maori if they wish. As I've cautioned, I'm no expert, but the following are terms that all Kiwis seem to know and use.

Te Reo Maor: The Maori Language

Aotearoa: "Land of the Long White Cloud" Maori name for New Zealand. I won a crappy t-shirt for

knowing this. I read a book in which the author virulently contested this translation but it's also partof the collective Kiwi general knowledge so I'm not going to bother with his argument.

Some history might be helpful here. Relatively speaking, the Maori haven't been here too long - only about 700 years (New Zealand was the last significant landmass to be inhabited). By most accounts, the first people to set foot in what would become New Zealand were a group of Polynesians in ocean-going canoes (waka) around 1300 AD. Or much later, or much sooner- there's a heaps of debate about this. There's also a lot of debate as to whether these first visitors were actively searching for a large landmass or simply lost. Whatever the case, their first perceptions of the New Zealand coast must have been as a long white cloud, hence the name.

Haka "to ignite the breath" This deserves its own post, really. You can watch the All Blacks (national rugby team) performing their famed version here.

Iwi "bones" This term is probably best understood as "clan" or "tribe" but to really understand iwi you have to understand the concept of whakapapa, Maori genealogy. Iwi is the largest everyday social unit but it can even be extended further to distinguish between the descendents of each of the original voyagers . While explaining whakapapa to the class, our Maori lecturer told us "In my iwi, it is said that if you can't trace your whakapapa back to the original waka, you are descended from a horse!" Horse didn't exisit in New Zealand until they were introduced in the late 18th century by European settlers. (Actually, there are no large, indigenous mammals.) So that's quite an insult. Zing!

Kia ora "be well/healthy" Hi! An informal greeting which can also signify agreement of gratitude. Most of my lecturers begin class with it. Since I'm hopelessly Pakeha I still can't pronounce it correctly. I reckon the closest people like me can get is saying "kee or uh" as quickly as possible.

Pakeha: Maori word for a non-Maori. "Pakeha" is similar to the hispanic word "gringo" in that its meaning and offensiveness really depends on the context and user. Like gringo, Pakeha usually refers to white people, but this isn't the only meaning. It can refer specifically to New Zealand-born white people of European descent when contrasted with indigenous Maori. Or it can mean white people in New Zealand in general, or more broadly, anyone who isn't Maori. As can be expected, there's some controversy surrounding the term but my lecturers use it so I'm going to assume most people don't take offense.

Arguments over etymology give you a good idea of some of the upset over the term. Some claim it's derived from a combination of the Maori word for pig, poaka, and flea, keha, though this is

unlikely. Others believe it is derived from the Maori word for stranger/foreigner which is the basis for most of the Pakeha-lead protests since the word then implies that they are outsiders in the country they were born in. However, the most popular interpretation traces the term back to Pakepakeha, "Mythical, human like being, with fair skin and hair who possessed canoes made of reeds which changed magically into sailing vessels." If you're interested, this paper gives a much more thorough explanation.

If you're just interested in pronouncing it properly, I'd go with "paw kay haw."

Whakapapa: I'm not going to attempt to define this one. Wikipedia does a bang-up job anyway:

"Whakapapa is a fundamental principle that permeates the whole of Māori culture. However, it is more than just a genealogical 'device'. It is in fact a paradigm of cultural discourse and provides the basis for establishing, enhancing, and even challenging relationships between individuals, whanau (families), hapu (local tribal entities), and iwi (regional tribal bodies)."

Wahanu "to give birth" Usually interpreted to mean "extended family" although government use in public service announcements seems to apply it more to the Western nuclear family. But maybe that's just me.

I think wahanu is a good illustration of the interrelatedness of Polynesian languages. Phoenetically, it's quite similar to Hawaiian's "ohana."

Goodness me! That was educational. If you're truly interested in in this subject, I recommend 100 Maori words every New Zealander should know. There's quite a few important terms I've skipped but I'll happily do another post like this if you guys enjoyed it. And since I can't help myself: