Post by Roderick on May 19, 2009 13:01:09 GMT 12
100 Maori words every New Zealander should know
100 words in te reo Mâori
These words are grouped according to the following functions and associations:
the marae
concepts
people and their groups
components of place names
greetings
body parts
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
We have included individual sound files of spoken versions of all these words – just click on the word and it will be spoken! (See also pronunciation notes and te reo for email.)
Hear Tairongo Amoamo read the complete list: click on arrow to play or download as mp3 (493kb)
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
The marae
Hui a meeting of any kind, conference, gathering
Marae the area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house or applied to a whole marae complex, including meeting house, dining hall, forecourt, etc.
Haere mai! Welcome! Enter!
Nau mai! Welcome!
Tangihanga funeral ceremonies, when body is mourned on a marae
Tangi short (verbal version) for the above (gerund) or to cry, to mourn
Karanga the ceremony of calling to the guests to welcome them to enter the marae
Manuhiri guests, visitors
Tangata whenua original people belonging to a place, local people, hosts
Whaikôrero the art and practise of speech making
Kaikôrero or kaiwhai kôrero speaker (there are many other terms)
Haka chant with dance for the purpose of challenge; (see other references to haka on this site)
Waiata song or chant which follows speech
Koha gift, present (usually money, can be food or precious items, given by guest to hosts)
Whare nui meeting house; in writing this is sometimes run together as one word – wharenui
Whare whakairo carved meeting house
Whare kai dining hall
Whare paku lavatory, toilet
Whare horoi ablution block, bathroom
Concepts
Aroha compassion, tenderness, sustaining love
Ihi power, authority, essential force
Mana authority, power; secondary meaning: reputation, influence
Manaakitanga respect for hosts or kindness to guests, to entertain, to look after
Mauri hidden essential life force or a symbol of this
Noa safe from tapu (see below), non-sacred, not tabooed
Raupatu confiscate, take by force
Rohe boundary, a territory (either geographical or spiritual) of an iwi or hapû
Taihoa to delay, to wait, to hold off to allow maturation of plans, etc.
Tapu sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo
Tiaki to care for, look after, guard (kaitiaki – guardian, trustee)
Taonga treasured possessions or cultural items, anything precious
Tino rangatiratanga the highest possible independent chiefly authority, paramount authority, sometimes used for sovereignty
Tûrangawaewae a place to stand, a place to belong to, a seat or location of identity
Wehi to be held in awe
Whakapapa genealogy, to recite genealogy, to establish kin connections
Whenua land, homeland, country; also afterbirth, placenta
People and their groups
Ariki person of high inherited rank from senior lines of descent, male or female
Hapû clan, tribe, independent section of a people; modern usage – sub-tribe; to be born
Iwi people, nation; modern usage – tribe; bones
Kaumâtua elder or elders, senior people in a kin group
Ngâi Tâtou a way of referring to everyone present – we all
Pâkehâ this word is not an insult; its derivation is obscure; it is the Mâori word for people living in New Zealand of British/European origin; originally it would not have included, for example, Dalmatians, Italians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, etc.
Rangatira person of chiefly rank, boss, owner
Tama son, young man, youth
Tamâhine daughter
Tamaiti one child
Tamariki children
Tâne man, husband, men, husbands
Teina/taina junior relative, younger brother of a brother, younger sister of a sister
Tipuna/tupuna ancestor
Tuahine sister of a man
Tuakana senior relative, older brother of a brother, older sister of a sister
Tungâne brother of a sister
Wahine woman, wife (wâhine women, wives)
Waka canoe, canoe group (all the iwi and hapû descended from the crew of a founding waka)
Whângai fostered or adopted child, young person
Whânau extended or non-nuclear family
Whanaunga kin, relatives
Components of place names
Ordinary geographical features such as hills, rivers, cliffs, streams, mountains, the coast and adjectives describing them, such as small, big, little and long, are to be found in many place names. Here is a list so you can recognise them:
Au current
Awa river
Iti small, little
Kai one of the meanings of kai is food; in a place name it signifies a place where a particular food source was plentiful, e.g., Kaikôura, the place where crayfish (kôura) abounded and were eaten
Mânia plain
Manga stream
Maunga mountain
Moana sea, or large inland 'sea', e.g., Taupô
Motu island
Nui large, big
ô or o means 'of' (so does a, â); many names begin with ô, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., ôkahukura, ôkiwi, ôhau, etc.
One sand, earth
Pae ridge, range
Papa flat
Poto short
Puke hill
Roa long
Roto lake; inside
Tai coast, tide
Wai water
Whanga harbour, bay
Greetings
E noho râ Goodbye (from a person leaving)
E haere râ Goodbye (from a person staying)
Haere mai Welcome!, Come!
Hei konâ râ Goodbye (less formal)
Kia ora Hi!, G'day! (general informal greeting)
Môrena (Good) morning!
Nau mai Welcome! Come!
Tçnâ koe formal greeting to one person
Tçnâ kôrua formal greeting to two people
Tçnâ koutou formal greeting to many people
Tçnâ tâtou katoa formal inclusive greeting to everybody present, including oneself
Body parts
Arero tongue
Ihu nose
Kakî neck
Kauae, kauwae chin
Kôpû womb
Mâhunga hair (when used for hair must always be used in plural, indicated by ngâ [the, plural]), head
Manawa heart
Niho teeth
Poho chest (also called uma)
Puku belly, stomach
Raho testicles
Ringa hand, arm
Toto blood
Tou anus
Turi knee (also known as pona)
Tûtae excrement, ordure
û breast (breast-milk is wai-û)
Upoko head
Ure penis
Waewae foot, feet, leg, legs
A note on pronunciation
The following English equivalents are a rough guide to pronouncing vowels in Mâori:
a as in far
e as in desk and the first 'e' in where; it should be short and sharp
i as in fee, me, see
o as in awe (not 'oh!')
u as in sue, boot
There are fewer consonants, and only a few are different from English:
r should not be rolled. It is pronounced quite close to the sound of 'l' in English. The tongue is near the front of the mouth.
t is pronounced more like 'd' than 't', with the tip of the tongue slightly further back from the teeth
wh counts as a consonant; the standard modern pronunciation is close to the 'f' sound; in some districts it is more like an 'h'; in others more like a 'w' without the 'h'; in others again more like the old aspirated English pronunciation of 'wh' (huence for whence)
ng counts as one consonant and is pronounced like the 'ng' in the word 'singer'. It is not pronounced like the 'ng' in 'finger', i.e., Whângârei is pronounced Far-n(g)ah-ray (not Fong-gah-ray); Tauranga is pronounced Tow- (to rhyme with sew) rah-n(g)ah (not Tow-rang-gah).
The macron – a little line above some vowels – indicates vowel length. Some words that look the same have different meanings according to their vowel length. For example, anâ means 'here is' or 'behold': Anâ te tangata! (Here is the man!) But ana, with no macron, means a cave. Some writers of modern Mâori double the vowel instead of using macrons when indicating a long vowel, so the first example would be Anaa te tangata!
Using te reo in email (and snail mail)
We've have put together this guide to help people learn appropriate email greetings and sign-offs in te reo Mâori.
We have listed some of the most commonly used phrases below. We encourage you to add any others you have received or any other questions you have as community contributions below this post, or email us at info@nzhistory.net.nz.
Generic greetings suitable for most occasions
Formal for one person (eg where in English you might have used 'Dear'): Tçnâ koe
Informal: Kia ora
When addressing two people
Formal: Tçnâ kôrua
Informal: Kia ora kôrua
When addressing more than two people
Formal: Tçnâ koutou
Informal: Kia ora koutou
Generic sign offs suitable for most occasions
Formal:
Nâku (noa), nâ [your name] = yours sincerely [your name] from one person
Nâ mâua (noa), nâ [your names] = yours sincerely [your names] - from two people
Nâ mâtou (noa), nâ [your names or group name] = yours sincerely [your names or group name] - from more than two people
Adding 'noa' in the above examples adds a sense of humility - eg 'Nâku, nâ' is 'From [your name]' whereas 'Nâku noa, nâ is more like 'It's just [your name]'
Informal:
Hei konâ mai (or just Hei konâ)
Other greetings and signoffs
Please provide more examples from emails you have received as community contributions at the bottom of this page or email us at info@nzhistory.net.nz
If morning, an informal greeting could be: Môrena (good morning - an alternative is 'Ata mârie' )
Kia ora e hoa (informal greeting to a friend)
If someone greets you with: Tçnâ koutou e hoa mâ
An appropriate response would be: Tçnâ koe, e hoa (or, less formally, Kia ora e hoa).
The sign off: Noho ora mai râ, nâ ... is: Look after yourself, from ...
For Christmas:
Mere Kirihimete - Merry Christmas
Ngâ mihi o te Kirhimete me te Tau Hou - Seasons greetings for Christmas and the New Year.
Meri Kirihimete ki a koe/kôrua/koutou - Merry Christmas to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people).
Ngâ mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koe/kôrua/koutou - Greetings of the Christmas season to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people).
Rotorua pulic library
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
100 words in te reo Mâori
These words are grouped according to the following functions and associations:
the marae
concepts
people and their groups
components of place names
greetings
body parts
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
We have included individual sound files of spoken versions of all these words – just click on the word and it will be spoken! (See also pronunciation notes and te reo for email.)
Hear Tairongo Amoamo read the complete list: click on arrow to play or download as mp3 (493kb)
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
The marae
Hui a meeting of any kind, conference, gathering
Marae the area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house or applied to a whole marae complex, including meeting house, dining hall, forecourt, etc.
Haere mai! Welcome! Enter!
Nau mai! Welcome!
Tangihanga funeral ceremonies, when body is mourned on a marae
Tangi short (verbal version) for the above (gerund) or to cry, to mourn
Karanga the ceremony of calling to the guests to welcome them to enter the marae
Manuhiri guests, visitors
Tangata whenua original people belonging to a place, local people, hosts
Whaikôrero the art and practise of speech making
Kaikôrero or kaiwhai kôrero speaker (there are many other terms)
Haka chant with dance for the purpose of challenge; (see other references to haka on this site)
Waiata song or chant which follows speech
Koha gift, present (usually money, can be food or precious items, given by guest to hosts)
Whare nui meeting house; in writing this is sometimes run together as one word – wharenui
Whare whakairo carved meeting house
Whare kai dining hall
Whare paku lavatory, toilet
Whare horoi ablution block, bathroom
Concepts
Aroha compassion, tenderness, sustaining love
Ihi power, authority, essential force
Mana authority, power; secondary meaning: reputation, influence
Manaakitanga respect for hosts or kindness to guests, to entertain, to look after
Mauri hidden essential life force or a symbol of this
Noa safe from tapu (see below), non-sacred, not tabooed
Raupatu confiscate, take by force
Rohe boundary, a territory (either geographical or spiritual) of an iwi or hapû
Taihoa to delay, to wait, to hold off to allow maturation of plans, etc.
Tapu sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo
Tiaki to care for, look after, guard (kaitiaki – guardian, trustee)
Taonga treasured possessions or cultural items, anything precious
Tino rangatiratanga the highest possible independent chiefly authority, paramount authority, sometimes used for sovereignty
Tûrangawaewae a place to stand, a place to belong to, a seat or location of identity
Wehi to be held in awe
Whakapapa genealogy, to recite genealogy, to establish kin connections
Whenua land, homeland, country; also afterbirth, placenta
People and their groups
Ariki person of high inherited rank from senior lines of descent, male or female
Hapû clan, tribe, independent section of a people; modern usage – sub-tribe; to be born
Iwi people, nation; modern usage – tribe; bones
Kaumâtua elder or elders, senior people in a kin group
Ngâi Tâtou a way of referring to everyone present – we all
Pâkehâ this word is not an insult; its derivation is obscure; it is the Mâori word for people living in New Zealand of British/European origin; originally it would not have included, for example, Dalmatians, Italians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, etc.
Rangatira person of chiefly rank, boss, owner
Tama son, young man, youth
Tamâhine daughter
Tamaiti one child
Tamariki children
Tâne man, husband, men, husbands
Teina/taina junior relative, younger brother of a brother, younger sister of a sister
Tipuna/tupuna ancestor
Tuahine sister of a man
Tuakana senior relative, older brother of a brother, older sister of a sister
Tungâne brother of a sister
Wahine woman, wife (wâhine women, wives)
Waka canoe, canoe group (all the iwi and hapû descended from the crew of a founding waka)
Whângai fostered or adopted child, young person
Whânau extended or non-nuclear family
Whanaunga kin, relatives
Components of place names
Ordinary geographical features such as hills, rivers, cliffs, streams, mountains, the coast and adjectives describing them, such as small, big, little and long, are to be found in many place names. Here is a list so you can recognise them:
Au current
Awa river
Iti small, little
Kai one of the meanings of kai is food; in a place name it signifies a place where a particular food source was plentiful, e.g., Kaikôura, the place where crayfish (kôura) abounded and were eaten
Mânia plain
Manga stream
Maunga mountain
Moana sea, or large inland 'sea', e.g., Taupô
Motu island
Nui large, big
ô or o means 'of' (so does a, â); many names begin with ô, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., ôkahukura, ôkiwi, ôhau, etc.
One sand, earth
Pae ridge, range
Papa flat
Poto short
Puke hill
Roa long
Roto lake; inside
Tai coast, tide
Wai water
Whanga harbour, bay
Greetings
E noho râ Goodbye (from a person leaving)
E haere râ Goodbye (from a person staying)
Haere mai Welcome!, Come!
Hei konâ râ Goodbye (less formal)
Kia ora Hi!, G'day! (general informal greeting)
Môrena (Good) morning!
Nau mai Welcome! Come!
Tçnâ koe formal greeting to one person
Tçnâ kôrua formal greeting to two people
Tçnâ koutou formal greeting to many people
Tçnâ tâtou katoa formal inclusive greeting to everybody present, including oneself
Body parts
Arero tongue
Ihu nose
Kakî neck
Kauae, kauwae chin
Kôpû womb
Mâhunga hair (when used for hair must always be used in plural, indicated by ngâ [the, plural]), head
Manawa heart
Niho teeth
Poho chest (also called uma)
Puku belly, stomach
Raho testicles
Ringa hand, arm
Toto blood
Tou anus
Turi knee (also known as pona)
Tûtae excrement, ordure
û breast (breast-milk is wai-û)
Upoko head
Ure penis
Waewae foot, feet, leg, legs
A note on pronunciation
The following English equivalents are a rough guide to pronouncing vowels in Mâori:
a as in far
e as in desk and the first 'e' in where; it should be short and sharp
i as in fee, me, see
o as in awe (not 'oh!')
u as in sue, boot
There are fewer consonants, and only a few are different from English:
r should not be rolled. It is pronounced quite close to the sound of 'l' in English. The tongue is near the front of the mouth.
t is pronounced more like 'd' than 't', with the tip of the tongue slightly further back from the teeth
wh counts as a consonant; the standard modern pronunciation is close to the 'f' sound; in some districts it is more like an 'h'; in others more like a 'w' without the 'h'; in others again more like the old aspirated English pronunciation of 'wh' (huence for whence)
ng counts as one consonant and is pronounced like the 'ng' in the word 'singer'. It is not pronounced like the 'ng' in 'finger', i.e., Whângârei is pronounced Far-n(g)ah-ray (not Fong-gah-ray); Tauranga is pronounced Tow- (to rhyme with sew) rah-n(g)ah (not Tow-rang-gah).
The macron – a little line above some vowels – indicates vowel length. Some words that look the same have different meanings according to their vowel length. For example, anâ means 'here is' or 'behold': Anâ te tangata! (Here is the man!) But ana, with no macron, means a cave. Some writers of modern Mâori double the vowel instead of using macrons when indicating a long vowel, so the first example would be Anaa te tangata!
Using te reo in email (and snail mail)
We've have put together this guide to help people learn appropriate email greetings and sign-offs in te reo Mâori.
We have listed some of the most commonly used phrases below. We encourage you to add any others you have received or any other questions you have as community contributions below this post, or email us at info@nzhistory.net.nz.
Generic greetings suitable for most occasions
Formal for one person (eg where in English you might have used 'Dear'): Tçnâ koe
Informal: Kia ora
When addressing two people
Formal: Tçnâ kôrua
Informal: Kia ora kôrua
When addressing more than two people
Formal: Tçnâ koutou
Informal: Kia ora koutou
Generic sign offs suitable for most occasions
Formal:
Nâku (noa), nâ [your name] = yours sincerely [your name] from one person
Nâ mâua (noa), nâ [your names] = yours sincerely [your names] - from two people
Nâ mâtou (noa), nâ [your names or group name] = yours sincerely [your names or group name] - from more than two people
Adding 'noa' in the above examples adds a sense of humility - eg 'Nâku, nâ' is 'From [your name]' whereas 'Nâku noa, nâ is more like 'It's just [your name]'
Informal:
Hei konâ mai (or just Hei konâ)
Other greetings and signoffs
Please provide more examples from emails you have received as community contributions at the bottom of this page or email us at info@nzhistory.net.nz
If morning, an informal greeting could be: Môrena (good morning - an alternative is 'Ata mârie' )
Kia ora e hoa (informal greeting to a friend)
If someone greets you with: Tçnâ koutou e hoa mâ
An appropriate response would be: Tçnâ koe, e hoa (or, less formally, Kia ora e hoa).
The sign off: Noho ora mai râ, nâ ... is: Look after yourself, from ...
For Christmas:
Mere Kirihimete - Merry Christmas
Ngâ mihi o te Kirhimete me te Tau Hou - Seasons greetings for Christmas and the New Year.
Meri Kirihimete ki a koe/kôrua/koutou - Merry Christmas to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people).
Ngâ mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koe/kôrua/koutou - Greetings of the Christmas season to you (1 person) / you (2 people) / you (3 or more people).
Rotorua pulic library
www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
