Malini Yugendran
Auckland, December 13, 2022
New Zealand is celebrating the 35th Anniversary of adopting Te Reo Maori as an Official Language and Indian Newslink pays tribute with an interview with Kim Muriwai, a Maori Specialist based In Auckland.
As well as a Learning Resource Developer and Content Producer, she is a skilled Te Reo Maori teacher, television producer and documentary director.
We have all heard of the greeting Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou Katoa, but many may not know the significance of its address three times.
Ms Muriwai said, “When you greet a single person, you say Tena Koe, and addressing two persons you say, Tena Korua. If there are three or more persons, the form of address is Tena Koutou. In a congregation, the greeting is repeated three times to greet you, your ancestors, and your descendants. The term Katoa emphasises the inclusiveness of everybody present,” she said.
Kia Ora is uttered many times a day. It means, she said, may you be healthy and the essence of life be upon you.
The art of phonetics
According to Ms Muriwai, alphabets ‘WH’ are aspirated and are closest to the English letter ‘F.’
“The term Whānau is pronounced as Fanau. Though it is usually understood as family, the word is complex and has many layers. It can mean the family into which you are born or the community that you have created for yourself,” she said.
Whakapapa is pronounced as Fa-Kuh-Pa-Pah and is an important word for the Maori.
It refers to the lineages and ancestry. Whakapapa is a genealogy that links ancestors to the present. It connects individuals to all other living things, as well as the land, sky and the universe, Ms Muriwai said.
Whenua, pronounced as Feh-Noo-Uh, has multiple meanings but usually refers to ‘land.’
“We use the words Tangata whenua which refers to the people of the land, meaning the original inhabitants of Aotearoa,” she said.
The origin of Aotearoa
According to a group of researchers from the University of Waikato, the origin of the word Aotearoa, meaning ‘long white cloud’ is unknown but appears to have been in use for long.
Sir George Grey, the 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand mentioned Aotearoa in his writings in 1855 and 1857. it is also mentioned in Maori newspapers and appears 2748 times in the Maori Legal Corpus, a digitised compilation of thousands of pages of legal materials in Te Reo Maori from 1829 to 2009.
“It is considered that voyagers to New Zealand, notably a lady named Hine-Te-Aparangi, spotted the long white cloud and directed her people towards it as a site where land would be found. That is how the name evolved,” Ms Muriwai said.
Many know the term Aroha means love but according to Ms Muriwai, there is more to this word.
“Aroha encapsulates all kinds of affection including care, kindness, empathy and compassion,” she said.
Malini Yugendran is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.
